Lost Love
by CapitalD
Summary: Riza takes Roy's place in the war without letting him know. He believes she's out visiting her new found family. What happens when Roy find outs the truth? Will he be too late to save her? ROYAI!  COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

The truth was, it has only been a few years that Riza Hawkeye finally accepted the fact that she was in love with Roy Mustang. Her feelings for him were more than just simple loyalty to her superior. Actually, it would have been hard to believe to say that someone willing to risk their life for another, was not, at the very least, in love with that person.

Riza Hawkeye had spent over ten years beside Roy Mustang. She had, without a doubt, devoted her life to help him reach the top. The first time he had told her his dream and ambition, she silently listened and decided that her goal in life would be to see his dream come true. But they were both young and reckless. It would have been a lie to say that she had never once doubted their success. However, Roy's perseverance never wavered and Riza's trust in him strengthened. After a while, she whole heartedly started believing that Roy's dream of becoming fuhrer and changing this country for the better was possible.

One thing that Riza Hawkeye told herself before chasing after this man's dream was to never fall in love with him; for she knew that if she did, she would only get hurt.

And that was true.

Roy Mustang was a notorious bachelor known throughout Amestris. Not only was he the youngest high ranking military officer, but he was also the infamous Flame Alchemist. There was nobody who did not know his name. Who would not want to date a man that had good looks, money and fame? On top of it all, he was still single. Nobody knew why he wasn't married yet but just believed that he liked to be free and fool around. In addition, his actions completely supported that idea.

Riza Hawkeye was always the first to arrive in the office, then came the others and then finally the colonel. She was always early, preparing everybody's paperwork for the day, checking the colonel's schedule and meetings. The others usually came on time, except for Havoc, who would, most of the time, run a bit late. But it was never as bad as the colonel.

It was already fifteen past eight and everyone had arrived and were already working on their paperwork, except for the colonel. Hawkeye knew that he was always late on Mondays. So she just quietly sat at her desk doing her work and all at the same time keeping an eye on the clock to see how late he would be this time.

Moments after, Havoc broke the silence and asked "Isn't the colonel later than usual today? It's already a quarter to nine and he still hasn't arrived," then he snickered and added, "I bet he's still in bed having fun with his latest catch." All the men chuckled at the idea because it could actually be true.

"Silence Havoc. The colonel's personal life is none of our business. Whatever is keeping him from coming to work on time is his problem and he should be responsible enough to fix it himself," Hawkeye warned him with a voice that left no space for a retort.

"Yes ma'am," said Havoc.

But the truth was, Hawkeye was also having a hard time dealing with the colonel's tardiness. She was always trying to convince herself that he had just forgotten to put his alarm on and slept in by accident. But she inwardly knew that the others were closer to the truth and she would ever be.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the opening doors. The colonel marched in with a smile. "Good morning everyone," he greeted casually. Everyone knew he was in an awfully good mood this morning.

"Sir, you're an hour late. Would you care to explain what was stopping you from coming in earlier?" asked Hawkeye.

"Chief, I bet you were still with that chick you hooked up with Friday, right? Let me guess, you guys spent a steamy night that lasted till this morning right?" teased Havoc.

Mustang just stared at him, then turned sideways and gave him his infamous smirk. All the men cheered and laughed. Mustang's face said it all.

"So, how was she?" Breda asked.

"Hey now, I'm not gonna get into details. There's a lady in the room you know. It would be rude of me," said the colonel.

Then everybody turned their eyes to meet Hawkeye's death glare, which left them all silent. "Get back to work everyone," was all that she said. What else could she say? The man that she was in love with was obviously oblivious to the fact that she had feelings for him. And there he was, talking about his sex life to all the other men. She couldn't help but feel betrayed and hurt every time he came back with more stories to share about his most recent dates. After all, she had given him everything, but received nothing in return.

_It's understandable, _she told herself, _I'm not the kind of girl men are attracted to. _She was a military woman, a scary one too. Men were too afraid to even consider her as a woman. Her looks were average and she didn't have the time to flirt with others, not that she wanted to. She just wasn't like a normal woman her age, going around looking for boyfriends. She didn't have the time for that. It was wrong of her to feel hurt because of the colonel. He was allowed to act like any other man. It wasn't his fault, it was hers.

Each time her heart would hurt after hearing him talk about other girls, she would scold herself and burry her feelings. She had no right to be jealous. Throughout the years she had built a barrier around her heart and had gotten used to it now.

The next day she came in earlier than usual. She went down to the front desk to collect everyone's paperwork for the day. As she scanned through the pile to assign them properly to each desk, she saw a file for the colonel about a 'recruitment'.

As she stood in front of his desk reading that file, she slowly became more and more tense. It was a recruitment form for soldiers to go onto the field. But it wasn't just any battle. It was a fight against a well known group of revolutionaries called the 'Iods', which consisted of bandits, mercenaries and trained soldiers. They were large in number and skilled at fighting. All in all, they were very dangerous. Their base was close to the west borderline of Amestris and that was where they started their fight against the military's west HQ. Hawkeye had heard about it, but she didn't know it would result in such a serious fight. It was almost like a small scale war.

She didn't have time to think anymore as she heard footsteps closing in. She quickly took the file and put it in her drawer. She could definitely not let the colonel see it.

As the day went by, she couldn't help but think about that recruitment paper. All the men in the office were surprised at how absentminded she was today.

"Are you alright lieutenant? You seem to be bothered by something," asked the colonel, concerned.

"Ah, yes I'm fine sir. Thank you for asking," said Hawkeye after snapping out of her thoughts. _Damn, I can't believe I seemed that distressed, _she thought, _I have to concentrate and forget about it for now._

Everything after that was normal like any other day. One by one the men left the office at the end of the day, until it was only the colonel and the lieutenant left.

The colonel stood up and started preparing to leave. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"No, I still have some things to take care of. You go ahead sir," she answered.

"Alright then, have a good night Hawkeye. Don't stay too late. I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

Hawkeye just nodded and waited until he was far enough from the office to take out that file. She put it on her desk and stared at it.

She knew why they wanted to recruit him. He was _the Flame Alchemist_ after all. This war could easily turn in favor of the military if they had him. But no matter how much she wanted the military to win, her desire to protect the colonel was a first priority. The colonel was fine now. He had finally recovered the Ishbal war and it has taken years for him to be able to get over it and forgive himself. She couldn't let him go through that pain and suffering again. If he fought in this war and ended up the same way he did after the Ishbal war, she didn't think he would have the will to continue pursuing his dream. She couldn't afford to take the risk and she swore that she would do anything to protect him.

She looked at the paper looking for the person who had given this order. Near the bottom of the page, she found the name: General Marcus Hall, of Central Headquarters. As she saw that, she was almost too happy to see that she wouldn't have to go anywhere far to meet this person. She quickly made her way out of the office and went to look for this general. Luckily, the person working at the front desk was still there.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a General Hall. Could you tell me where his office is located?" she asked.

After getting the directions, she walked quickly towards his office hoping he would still be there. As she approached his door, she was a man coming out. His badge showed that he was a general, so she assumed that he was Marcus Hall.

She snapped into salute and said, "General Hall, sir. I am first lieutenant Riza Hawkeye and I am here to request an audience with you regarding an important matter, sir."

The general, surprised by the unexpected visit, was amused by her bold request and said, "alright, since I still have some time to spare, I'll hear out your request. It does look pretty important to you. Come on in." He reopened his door and offered her a seat in front of his desk.

"Thank you, sir." Hawkeye walked in and sat in the chair in a perfect strait position.

The general gave a kind smile and chuckled. "Its just as the rumors said. You do look like the perfect soldier. You know, you have quite the reputation in the military. Not only are you a woman, you're also our best sharpshooter. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not looking down on women. I'm actually quite impressed and I know that many other women in the military look up to you," he complimented.

"Ah, thank you very much for the compliment sir," said Hawkeye a bit flustered. She didn't expect to get complimented, by a general no less. She looked strait at him and asked, "permission to speak sir." The general gave his approval.

Hawkeye knew he was a kind man after listening to him speak. Maybe she had a chance with this. She started, " Actually sir, I'm here to speak to you about colonel Mustang's recruitment to the west front." The general became more serious and listened closely. Seeing he was now giving her his full attention, she continued, "I do not recommend sending the colonel out on the field again. His mental stability isn't as strong as it used to be after the Ishbal war. It has been hard for him to recover after that war and I'm afraid we might lose him completely if he joins this fight. However he is a very good tactician, I must say, and he could very well help out our forces from here."

The general seemed to be in deep thoughts after hearing this, then he said, "I didn't know the colonel was that affected by the war. I was a terrible war. I'm sorry to hear that he had a hard time moving on. But now, what we need is reinforcements to our forces at the west front. The Iods are fending pretty well and we need man power more than ever. What do you suggest we do if we don't recruit the Flame Alchemist?"

Hawkeye knew this was coming, but was hoping it hadn't come. "I volunteer to take his place, sir. I know there is a need of sharpshooters. What our forces could use right now are soldiers capable of searching the parameters and spy on the enemies to figure out their plans. This would be a faster way for us to corner them and hopefully end the fight without too much casualties. I have been trained and have experience doing these kind of jobs and I could also help out the other snipers already on the field." Hawkeye hoped that her speech was convincing enough. If he could accept her offer, then the colonel would be safe from danger and could continue climbing to the top. She could accept doing the dirty work, only if she knew Mustang was free from it.

Every passing second seemed like eternity as Hawkeye waited for a response from the general. He was in deep thought and seemed to really consider her deal. Finally, he looked at her and said "alright, I'll cancel his recruitment and have one made for you. Your plan seems like a good one and it might just work. We should try to quietly end this war than to overwhelm them with power. It would only result in a catastrophic war like the one in Ishbal." He smiled, and then added "the colonel is lucky to have such a devoted subordinate as you."

And that was it. Riza Hawkeye was going to replace Roy Mustang in the upcoming war.

A.N.: This is my first time attempting to write something. So maybe there are a lot of errors or just weird phrasing. Tell me if there are some please, so I can correct. I'm not sure if this is gonna be a success. but I just wanted to write some thing about roy x riza. I've actually been itching to write a story about them. Hope you guys like it somewhat...


	2. Chapter 2

The next day she arrived early to work as usual, but it was only because she had trouble sleeping the night before. At home, she had spent too much time thinking about the incident that she only fell asleep at a little past three A.M. As she came in, she did her usual routine; went to get the paperwork, check the colonel's schedule and meetings. As she was sorting out the papers, she felt tense and couldn't help but dread about the recruitment notice she knew she was going to receive. And she was right. Going through her pile, she noticed the same paper she had seen the day before, but instead of seeing the colonel's name on it, it was hers. At least that relieved her a bit. However, the problem now was getting her superior to sign her release form without him knowing about it. It would have been plausible to say that this was impossible; with any other superior.

Roy Mustang was not a man that was very fond of paperwork. He did not enjoy sitting all day in his office looking at problems going on in the city written on paper. But he had no choice and it was better than doing dangerous missions. He was a procrastinator at heart and did everything at the last minute. Most of the soldiers that worked around him knew about his bad habits, but not his superiors. Whenever they came to visit, he cleaned up his desk and acted like he was in deep concentration and working very hard. After all, he needed a good image with the higher ups to get their supports whenever he needed it. That's where Hawkeye came in. From other people's point of view, they were an absolutely compatible pair, mostly because Hawkeye knew exactly how to accommodate to him. She knew all of his habits; that means she would also know that to get his work done quickly and leave earlier, he would just sign the papers without taking a look at them. That way, he didn't need to read all of them. Throughout the years, he knew the papers that came in held almost no importance whatsoever and were just there as an annoyance to him. Hawkeye took the responsability to look through them and proof check he didn't absently sign a declaration of war.

Now, the only way she knew to be sure that he wouldn't notice her recruitment paper was to give it to him on a Friday. She knew that on Fridays, especially around the end of the day, Mustang would rush through his papers more than any other day, because he would always be late for a date. That was her only chance she could get him to sign it. It was not that she wanted to hide it from him. It was just that if he knew, he would never let her go, especially not for his sake. His pride was higher than Mount Everest, and if he knew a woman was trying to save him from going out on the field, he would never accept it. He was also a selfish man; he was not a man to let his subordinates work for someone else if he had a chance to stop it from happening. But she knew that this front he put up was only to protect them. He took deep responsibility upon himself to look after his underlings and felt responsible for their lives. She didn't want this to burden him.

The next few days passed like they normally did. She acted like nothing happened and waited until Friday. During these days, she had packed a few things at home that she would bring along with her. After all, one couldn't bring all their belongings if they were going to war. So she left the rest of her stuff in her apartment. She had also prepared some predated checks for her rent and had given it to her landlady. She didn't know how long her leave would be, but just in case, she had decided to continue renting her place for another six months.

When Friday had come, she felt unusually nervous that day. She couldn't help but feel anxious. What if her plan didn't work? The colonel would never let it go. But she continued acting like nothing was wrong and went through the day like a regular Friday. She scolded the boys for fooling around too much and kept a close watch on her superior. At luch time, she overheard the boys talk about Roy's date that night.

"So, who's the lucky girl this time?" asked Havoc, leaning in closer.

"Her name's Amy. She's cute. She's a brunette, green eyes and a great rack," Roy answered with a satisfied smirk.

"Tch, why do you always get the good ones?" said a rather annoyed Havoc.

"Yeah, it's not fair. And you don't even need to try to get anyone. They come to you!" said Breda.

"Hmp, it's because you guys can't charm the ladies, "replied Roy, with a playful smug face.

"Well, I don't really want just any girl. I want one that's nice and honest. The looks don't really matter to me," said Fuery quietly.

"Yeah well that's just you. I want the good ones, but each time I get one, the colonel steals her away!" said Havoc, who was now irritated and fired up.

"Hey! I didn't steal anyone. They came by themselves," said Roy, defending himself.

"Whatever. Same thing," said a moody Havoc.

"Colonel, can I ask you something? Why is it that you never date blonds?" asked Falman, who was quietly listening this whole time. The others, hearing this question, were also curious. It was true that the colonel dated many different girls, but never once did he go out with a blond.

"Because they're just not my type," he replied.

Upon hearing that, Riza was glad she would be leaving soon. She couldn't take being around them right now. It hurt her to think that even if she wanted to try to confess her feelings to him, she was guaranteed an automatic rejection. It was a hopeless love. Maybe it was a good thing for her to leave. She would have the time to sort out her feelings and think about something else for a change.

Around four o'clock, all the men were getting down to business. This was the time they worked the fastest during the whole week. Hawkeye silently smiled to herself. _This is probably the last time that I'm going to be able to see them like this._

"Almost done," Roy said to himself, furiously signing away.

"Not yet, sir, you still have this to sign," said Riza, who walked up to his desk and gave him a small pile of paperwork. Inside she had slipped her form, hoping he wouldn't notice it. The colonel sighed irritatingly and just tossed that pile on top of the other unfinished ones. The others finished their piles and left for the day. Hawkeye sat there doing her own work. She had purposely slowed down so she could stay until the colonel had finished. This was, after all, probably the last time she could see him. She was debating whether she should say something before he left or not. The thing was, her train that she was boarding to take her out west was early the next day. She didn't have much time left.

She snapped out of her thoughts when the colonel said "Yes, I'm all done lieutenant! I'm going to be late so I have to leave now. Have a good weekend lieutenant." He quickly gathered his belongings and dashed towards the door. Before he got out of the office, Riza quickly said "Um sir, actually I have something to tell you. If I could have a bit of your ti-"

"Sorry lieutenant. I'm really in a hurry right now. Is it really important? If not, then can it wait for Monday?" Roy interrupted, half way out the door.

"Ah, um, no sir, it's not important. I'll tell you on Monday then. Have a good weekend sir," she said.

The colonel gave her a quick smile before he left. Riza just stood there, behind her desk. She smiled sadly and chuckled. _How ironic. I'm risking my life going to war to save his ass and he won't even give me five minutes because he's late for his date. _She walked to his desk and searched his pile of papers to find that form. Indeed, he had signed it without giving it as much as a second thought. _Colonel, how can you be so careless?_ She put that paper away in her bag and went to look for a box. She had to pack what little she had from her desk. What she left was her nameplate and a letter to Roy Mustang.

When she was finished, she took a last look around the office, then closed the door and left. _Goodbye. _She took in every detail from her walk back home. She didn't live that far from headquarters, so she didn't need a car. As she walked down a busy street, she heard a giggling, high pitched voice.

"Oh Roy! You shouldn't have! I could have waited all night for you and I wouldn't have minded at all. I know you're awfully busy and all, because, like, you're in the military," said a brunette.

"I know, but I just felt bad for being late. I'm sorry; my lieutenant just kept giving me more work to do," Roy replied with his smirk, the one that charmed all the ladies.

" Oh poor Roy! You should just fire that lieutenant. You're her boss after all right?" she asked, giggling away. Roy just laughed and put his arm around her shoulder and led her towards an expensive restaurant.

Riza just stood there, on the other side of the street. She couldn't believe what she just saw. Not only was she the most stupid girl she had ever seen, Roy was acting along with her. _Does he really like girls acting that way? _She quickly walked home, now in a very bad mood. She knew she wasn't anything special, but she couldn't believe someone like that had beaten her. She just couldn't understand why the colonel was attracted to girls like that, and same for all the other men. She wasn't the type of girl to get jealous, but she still had her pride as a woman, and it had just been trampled all over.

The next day, she boarded the six o'clock train and sat in a compartment with three other people, getting ready for a ten hour ride. While she was sitting there, she read her book, slept a bit, watched the scenery go by and did a lot of thinking. She wondered how the boys would react to her sudden leave. Would they believe her reason for leaving? She couldn't help but worry about them. No one would be there to tell them to work. What if they were always late for the paperwork deadline? Did they even know there was a deadline? She hoped they could manage everything well even if she wasn't there. If not, the colonel would lose image.

She cringed at the thought. But no matter how much she tried to think positively, she knew things were going to be disastrous in some way.

Time flew by as she sat there in a daze. She heard someone announce: "Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving in ten minutes."

She got up with the others and grabbed her bag on the top shelf. When she got out of the train, she looked around the platform, hoping someone was here to guide her. It was her first time in the west and she didn't know where to go. Suddenly, she saw a man in uniform holding up a sign with her name on it. As she approached, the man asked her, "Are you first lieutenant Riza Hawkeye ma'am?"

"Yes I am," she replied.

"I am sergeant Doidge and I was assigned to welcome you and bring you to headquarters ma'am," he said with much energy.

Riza nodded and they walked towards a military issued car. She was rather amused by this sergeant. _He must be a new soldier; so young and so much energy. I hope he won't lose his enthusiasm._

It was around four in the afternoon and the western HQ was still busy with many people. As she walked in through the halls, many officers looked at her and she even heard a few of them whistle. She ignored them and continued following her guide. The western headquarters was a lot smaller than the one in central. It was understandable because there weren't that many enemies on this side. No wonder they're lacking in manpower to fight off the Iods. _I suppose they all know I'm a newcomer. It wouldn't be hard to spot one considering the fact that they probably all know each other. _Doidge brought her in front of a door, knocked and waited for a permission to enter. He ushered her in and they both stood in front of a desk and saluted.

"Sir, I have brought our guest like you told me to," said Doidge.

"Well done sergeant. You may leave for the day," replied the man sitting at the desk.

He looked at Hawkeye and she said "I am first lieutenant Riza Hawkeye from central, reporting for duty sir."

"At ease lieutenant. I am Brigadier General Morgan. I received a call from General Hall in central, and I will be the one to assign you to your post. I'm glad we will be able to experience firsthand the hawk's eye. I was told you are willing to help out our snipers too. I'm sure they would be delighted to meet the military's best sharpshooter. I have to tell you though; they might look down on you for being a woman. I know them and because they won the sharpshooting competition against the southern HQ, their arrogance shot up to the sky. They're a difficult bunch. They think they're invisible. But they're still young and inexperienced. They don't know the real world yet. I hope you don't take it the wrong way. They're very good kids. Please guide them well." He smiled at her, trying to reassure her.

He was an older looking man and reminded her of her grandfather. _He must call all the younger soldiers 'kids' like my grandfather does. _"Will do sir," she gave him a small smile, snapped into a salute and exited his office. Morgan had given her directions. She had to go find a car that was supposed to bring her to the front base. Everything was moving fast. She had arrived at the western HQ and was about to ride a car that would bring her to the camping site in just one day. She assumed that the situation was not all that good and they needed any help they could get.

The car ride lasted for another two hours. When they arrived, she couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic. She wondered, no matter where they were, a military camp would always look the same. There was no grass, no trees; everywhere she looked, there were tents and bonfires. It was a gray and ugly landscape. The usual royal blue military uniform was nowhere to be found. If you weren't wearing a cape to shield from the wind and the sun, then your uniform would be dusty and brown from the dirt.

If she had to describe this place in one word, it would be: filthy.

A.N.: Wow, I,m glad some people are actually liking this story. Thanks for the reviews :). Even 3 means a lot for me, lol. I hope you guys continue reading because the good part hasn't started yet.

Please leave me a review!


	3. Chapter 3

When she arrived at the camp, the sun had already set. It was dark and she couldn't quite see the whole camping site. Tents were up everywhere and soldiers were drinking, eating and laughing around bonfires. As she walked through the crowd, some people noticed her and whispered to the person beside them, showing them the newcomer. They probably didn't care because they just ignored her. She knew that the ones who would cause trouble for her would probably be the leaders of each group; the ones who were arrogant and thought they were the best. Hawkeye, with her keen eyesight and observation, had already guessed who they were. Those types of men were always the loud, rowdy one, talking loudly. They were the ones who would tell stories and everyone around him would listen and laugh if it was funny. Basically, they were the leaders of their pack.

She walked through the crowd silently and discretely, putting her sniper skills to good use. She wasn't very fond of causing big commotions or even getting attention. It wasn't that she was afraid to be the center of attention; it was just that she found it troublesome, especially if all the people you had to deal with were drunk. She was trying to find the tent where she had to go meet Colonel Solomon. He was the one put in charge of the forces that were fighting against the Iods. She had to go find him to report for duty. But this task was becoming more difficult than she thought. The directions she got from her driver were not helpful and she was tired of going around the place without even knowing where she was going. She decided to ask another officer that looked like he was still somewhat sober. _They must have won an important battle or something to be celebrating like this._

When she finally reached the tent she was looking for, stated her name and rank and waited for permission to enter.

"Come in," said a low and gruff voice.

Colonel Solomon was a man that matched his voice. He was tall, big and had rough features. He was bald and had a brown beard. If you didn't know him, you would probably think that he was a cold and mean person. He was standing by a table which had a map of the area spread out on top. There were two others standing beside him too, probably his aides. She could see pins of different colors placed at different areas on the map, probably to show where the enemies' and our forces. When she entered, they were still looking at the map in deep concentration and it seemed like they had unconsciously let her some in. She waited there, making sure not to disturb them. They were probably still in the middle of planning their next move. When the Colonel finally noticed her, he turned around to face her and smiled broadly.

"Welcome First Lieutenant Hawkeye, We were expecting you!" his voice booming throughout the whole tent. She wouldn't be surprised if everyone outside were able to hear them talk. Her face remained unchanged, but the truth was, she was quite taken aback. She wasn't expecting him to have this kind of personality. _Well, you can't judge a book by its cover. _She thought to herself.

"Thank you, sir," she replied and saluted.

"Please, at ease soldier. I'm not very fond of all the formalities. You don't need to salute every time you see me. Well, I've said that to quite a lot of people, but they still do it. I guess old habits die hard now do they!" he laughed, and continued "We've already prepared a tent for you. You actually have one all to yourself, because we thought you would need your privacy. I didn't want you to have to share a tent with eight other men. It's in the snipers' section of the camp, which is at the far right end when you get out of this tent. There's going to be sixteen of you in total including you Hawkeye. I want you to be the leader and teach them what you know."

Hawkeye was about to answer when one of his aides interjected, "Sir, are you sure it's all right to let her handle them alone? I think it's going to create a big ruckus again."

"Lieutenant Colonel Holland, do you know who this is? Have you heard about the famous Hawk's eye that shot down the most enemies during the Ishbal war? And on top of that, she was the Flame alchemist's right hand woman. If the hero of Ishbal kept her by his side for that long, then she must be a person worth keeping. We're lucky to even have her come to us. I'm sure she will be able to set things straight with them. Oh and by the way, Hawkeye, this is Lieutenant Colonel Holland and the one beside him is Major Elias. They're my aides," said Solomon.

Riza Hawkeye didn't know what to expect. The way Holland had reacted greatly intrigued her. Were the snipers that hard to handle? It's been two times in a row now that she got warned about them. You couldn't help but dread their first encounter. After the introductions, Solomon asked Hawkeye to stay a bit longer, while the other two left. He went and sat behind his desk, then asked "Do you have your transfer paper? It's just for procedures."

"Yes sir," she replied and fetched out her paper that the colonel had unknowingly signed. She gave it to him and he stared at it.

Then he let out a big huff and said, "I don't know why your colonel would allow you to come here. I'm not complaining or anything, as a matter of fact, I'm quite pleased. But I know that if I had you on my team, I would never let a talented soldier like you go." He grinned at her.

She faked a smile and said, "Our team has enough people to handle things in the office. But he decided to let me come because we were having trouble out in the West. He decided that my help could favor us greatly and decided to temporarily let me come."

"Only temporary right? Hahaha, I knew he wouldn't let you off that easily!" He laughed out loud, amused by what he thought the colonel had done. Riza lightly chuckled, playing along. But inwardly, she wished that what she had just told him was the truth.

"Come here, I have something to give you," he waved his hand for her to come closer to his desk. Then he handed her a backpack and one of those coat-capes all the other soldiers were wearing. "There are some supplies in the bag that might help you while you're out here. And there's also this," he took out a small box and handed it to her. She opened it and saw new shoulder badges. They were the rankings of a captain.

"Oh no sir, I can't accept this," she quickly handed it back to him, but he wouldn't take it back.

"I won't take no for an answer. I've heard about the promotions you rejected. You could have been a major by now. So this should be nothing to you. I have already made it official so now you've been promoted to a Captain," he said firmly, leaving no room for arguments.

Riza saluted and thanked him before leaving the tent. The reason why she never wanted to be promoted was because she wanted to stay by the colonel's side. If she was a major, she would probably have to take care of important cases and would probably have her own subordinates. She wanted to devote her time in helping the colonel go up the ranks. She herself was not interested in high ranks, power or money. If she was still working with the colonel, then she would probably have refused the promotion even if Solomon argued against her. She knew it would be insolent of her to do that, but she would have had no choice. However, a promotion now wouldn't hurt her, so she decided to accept it.

The soldiers had calmed down a bit since it was getting later now and some of them were already passed out cold on the floor. She quickly walked to the far right side of the camp and found a small tent that had her number on it. There was no one around. _I suppose they're all sleeping or still out partying with the others. _All the tents were numbered, so that it was easier to remember which one you're in, since they all looked the same. Her tent was smaller than the others, because it was a single one. She heard that the others had to share a tent of eight people. When she entered, she looked around and was quite satisfied with what she got. There was a small single bed, a night table beside it and a few shelves. Her room was lighted by an oil lantern. She but her bags on the floor, sat on her bed and took off her boots and uniform. Her day had been very long and tiring. She wanted to sleep early and wake up a bit earlier the next day to unpack some of her stuff. _I should probably rest if I want to be able to handle the bunch of them tomorrow. It's going to be another long day, _she chuckled to herself. She blew out the candle and drifted off into a deep sleep.

The next day she woke up at six and started unpacking some stuff from her bag. She left all her extra clothes in there to prevent the dust from dirtying them. Next, she looked through the supplies that were given to her yesterday. There was a first aid kit, ration bars, water bottles, a pocket knife, and other little stuff that could come in handy on the battlefield. She repacked everything and got ready to leave her tent. Before she left central, she went to the shooting range and brought her rifle with her. It was a very good one that her grandfather had given her for one of her birthdays. She had soon become very attached to it. It was wrapped in a cloth and she swung it over her shoulder. _Just like Ishbal. _She couldn't help but notice the resemblance.

She got out of her small tent and took a good look around the area. It was a sunny day with a clear blue sky. The base camp wasn't as big as she thought it was. It was probably big enough to fit 150 to 200 soldiers. And she was sure some soldiers were scattered around in small camps too. Because of last night's celebration, there were very few people up and about. She saw some of them who seemed like they had just woken up; some were washing their faces and others were cleaning up from last night. She found the biggest tent where she knew was the cafeteria and went to go get breakfast. When she entered, there were around 20 to 30 people already eating and chattering among themselves. As she walked to the counter to get her food, she noticed how the room suddenly got less noisy and she knew they were staring at her. She felt like a stray animal that had just walked into someone else's territory. She ignored the looks and whispers and went to sit at the end of an empty table. As she was taking the first bite of her indistinguishable breakfast, someone threw their arm around her shoulder and roughly sat down next to her. She choked on her food and was coughing to the side. When she regained composure, she saw two girls sitting in front of her and another one beside her that had her arm swung around her. Riza Hawkeye didn't usually let others invade her personal space, and this person was definitely too close in proximity, but she hadn't expected to be ambushed so early in the morning.

"Hey new one! You just joined the female soldiers of the west front club!" the girl beside her smiled brightly. She had brown hair tied in a ponytail and Riza could tell she was a tomboy. "Haha, look at you, all fresh and clean. Did you just arrive? I haven't seen you around?" she asked Riza.

The girl reminded her of her friend Rebecca and she knew she could use a person like that over here too. It would be better if she could also make some friends out here. She answered, "I just arrived yesterday night, so I couldn't properly introduce myself. My name is Riza Hawkeye; I've transferred here from central headquarters."

"Well, we have quite a formal one here now do we. Relax Riza; you don't need to be so serious. I'm Warrant Officer Rachel Clayton. It's nice to meet you. This is Sergeant Beverly Morse and Samantha Cassis. There aren't too many female soldiers here so it's always fun to meet new ones. Now were a total of six members! The others are probably still sleeping because of last night," she grinned.

Riza looked at Beverly and Samantha. Beverly was petite and had short black hair. She looked very shy. As for Samantha, it was almost the complete opposite. She was a big girl, had tan skin and messy dark brown hair that she tried to tie up. She looked like an outgoing person just like Rachel.

"Hey, look at all the guys checkin you out," Samantha said teasingly. Riza took a quick peek around the room and it was true, most of the men were looking at her. Riza felt heat rush to her cheeks and quickly suppressed it. The truth was that Riza never noticed these kinds of things, so when someone would tell her about it, she would never know how to react and felt embarrassed. But no one ever knew about it because she was very good at hiding her feelings.

"It's because I'm new and-" Riza helplessly tried to explain. But Rachel had felt her tense up and saw through her façade.

"Oh come on! You know they're looking at you cuz you're a babe. Don't deny it. It's not every day that a good looking female soldier comes along," said Rachel, giving her a few 'gentle' taps on the back.

"Yeah, I mean, after me, there weren't any more good ones. But too bad for them I'm already taken," Samantha added.

"In your dreams! When you came, people avoided you, you giant!" retorted Rachel.

The two of them started arguing and the silent Beverly had to stop them both from fighting. It was attracting a lot of attention and even Riza felt a little embarrassed. She wasn't used to being the center of attention. Usually she was in the background silently listening. But she smile to herself and thought, _I'm glad I made some good friends. _When they had calmed down, Riza could finally eat her breakfast. The others had gone to bring their plate over to eat with her. Samantha explained to her that the celebration yesterday was for their victory against the Iods. They had pushed their forces back quite a lot and taken over some part of their territory. When they were finished eating, Rachel asked Riza, "So do you know where you're assigned? If you want, we could give you a tour."

"Yes, I'm a sharpshooter. I've already found the place so please don't go out of your way to give me a tour. I'm sure you're all busy," she answered. Right after she said that, she heard gasps and pity looks. _Oh my god. Why does everybody react this way? I should really hurry and go see what the big problem with my group is._

Samantha leaned in, looked at her intently and asked, "Are you serious?", then angrily added, "I hate the lot of them! They think they're the best because of one measly competition. By the way, the southern soldiers aren't even that good. No wonder they won! They're so cocky it's annoying. There was a transfer before you from central that also came to be a sniper, but he got looked down on and now he's like their dog just because he couldn't outshoot Steve."

"Hold on Sam, it's not exactly like that. They're not all pompous, only a few of them. Their leader right now is Warrant Officer Steve Orser. He's the one who won the competition for the western team. Because of that, he thinks he has the right to rule over the others. The others follow him because they take pride in his reputation. But when they're not around him, they're nice people too. Sam just exaggerates because Steve especially likes to torment her." Rachel explained. She then warned Riza, "Just to let you know, they put on a big show whenever a new sniper comes along. They'll bring you to the center of the camp and have a match against you. Steve is going to test your skills and if you can't beat him, then he'll never give you his respects. He'll look down on you. I feel really bad that you're going to have to put up with him. As much as I hate to say it, he's good."

Beverly was looking down, Samantha was fuming on the side, cursing under her breath and Rachel just sadly smiled at her. Usually Riza did not care about what people said about her. She ignored everything because she thought it was a waste of her energy to try to argue. But the thing she had the most pride in was her marksmanship. She was known to be exceptionally skilled and was praised many times for that. She had received many high position offers, some higher ups even came in person to ask her. But she had denied all of them just so she could stay with the colonel. She had won all the military competitions she's been in and had won every challenge she had received. But now, to have others underestimate her competency really irritated her. To automatically place her below an arrogant Warrant Officer was the worst insult someone could say to her. She wasn't angry at them for thinking she was going to lose, but she was angry at Steve for acting that way. She could never stand men like him. It was okay to think that one was good, but she hated people who looked down on others and oppressed them.

She calmed herself down and said, "Who says I'm going to lose?"

The others stared at her incredulously. They waited to see if she was joking, but realized that she was totally serious.

Rachel then said, "Riza, I don't want to be rude, but I've seen his shooting skills first hand and he's good. He rarely misses the target. I don't think it'll be that easy to win."

Riza sighed heavily. _Why won't anyone believe me? _This was the first time in her career that so many people ever doubted her abilities. She stood up and got ready to leave.

"Where are you going? You're not going to meet him are you?" Rachel asked in a bit of a panic.

"Well I have to get to work so I might as well get this challenge over with it," she coolly answered and started walking away to return her tray.

"Man, I knew she was a weird one, but this is just crazy. She's done for. On top of that, she's a girl! Do you know how much she's going to suffer with him?" Samantha asked Rachel.

"Yeah, well we better do what we can to help her then." Rachel got up with the two others and quickly followed after Hawkeye.

They walked in silence, not daring to say anything. Riza was fuming inside and it was clearly showing on her face no matter how much she tried to suppress it. She had put on her famous death glare. _This is really a waste of my time, _she thought. She was here to observe and instruct them, not babysit them. She had to put an end to their little game. It was now a little past eight, and most of the people were up and getting ready to eat or go to their post. She swiftly passed through the growing crowd and arrived at her camp. There were about a dozen men outside the tents that they were cleaning themselves up or just dallying around, sitting on crates. She walked up to them and stood there in the center. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at her, expecting her to want something. "Can I help you missy?" one of them said mockingly. She glared coldly at him and he stepped back. _Honestly, what a bunch of lazy asses. Is this a gang or something? _

"Which one of you is Steve Orser?" She demanded.

"That would be me babe. Did you come to get some of this darling?" The man was tall, about six feet. He was shirtless, which showcased his toned muscles. He had short black hair and a handsome face. But his personality was rotten, that was for sure. The men all burst out laughing. Steve walked closer to her and was about to put his hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away. They quieted down and looked at her. She could hear the other girls whispering her name urgently, trying to call her over, but she ignored them. She was their superior, how dare they disrespect her.

"I was assigned to guide and teach you-"she started, but was interrupted by Steve's loud laugh. He was laughing so hard he was now crouching down holding his stomach. The others were also laughing and she noticed that the ones who were inside the tents had come out to see what was going on. They were fifteen like the colonel had told her. She waited patiently until they had calmed down. When Steve regained his breath, he put his face up to hers and glared at her.

"How dare you come here and insult us like that. You think you can just become our leader? You have to earn it like I did. A little girl like you can't possibly do that," he sneered, and continued, "But we can't break our tradition now can we, right boys?" The others cheered. He went in a tent and came back out with a rifle then signaled her to follow him. She silently complied and followed. She saw the other men run around announcing the challenge.

Rachel came up behind her and whispered harshly, "Riza, what in the world are you thinking! You're looking for trouble aren't you?"

"I'm going to put them back in their place," she replied, leaving no room to argue.

Just like the girls had told her, Steve had brought them to what seemed like the center of the camp. The news had now spread everywhere and everyone was here to witness the challenge.

"Okay, darling. Here's what you have to do to be our leader. You have to beat me in a shooting competition. There are two benches over there and we're going to place five cans on each. Whoever can shoot all of them down the fastest is the winner. Simple, right?" Steve explained with a smile that didn't quite look sincere.

"Understood." Said Riza.

"Just to let you know, I've been in many competitions, including the one against South and I won that one. So don't feel too bad after you lose," he tried to warn her. But to her, his warning was only another chance for him to showoff and it just pissed her off even more. Seeing that she was ignoring him, he gave the signal to start placing the cans on top of the benches. They both took out their rifles and prepared them.

"So since you're a sharpshooter, you must know how to shoot from a far distance right? Do you want it to be 100 meters, or 200? I don't mind, but 100 would be easier for you right?" he asked her.

"200," was all she said. It was taking all she had to keep her calm. _Is he taking me for some fool?_ _At least if I win at a 200 meter distance, he won't have any excuses._

They each had five bullets. So if they missed, it would be an automatic loss. The spectators had cleared the shooting space and were standing on both sides trying to get the best view. Riza and Steve walked to a distance they estimated was about 200 meters. They took their stance and waited for a guy to give them the signal to start. When the signal was given, Riza raised her rifle and fired five consecutive shots. It took a while until the crowd noticed it was over and went silent, trying to register what had just happened. It had only been a few seconds ago that the signal had been given and Riza had already shot down all the cans. She released her breath and lowered her weapon. Steve was frozen in place, staring with wide eyes at the targets. He had only shot down two of the cans. No one knew what happened, it was all too fast.

"f- f- four point thirteen seconds," said the same guy that gave the starting signal. He had a chronometer to time how fast Steve was supposed to beat her, but it seems like it was the other way around. Everyone was now looking at Steve to see what he was going to do. He was beaten by an unknown newcomer who could shoot down targets at a 200 meter distance in less than five seconds. That was less than a second for each shot and an incredible accuracy.

Riza waited until Steve snapped out of his daze. She new everyone was going to react this was. It was always like this. People just couldn't seem to process what had happened and refused to believe it.

"Did you see that guys? The wind blew my cans and it got harder to shoot them that's why it took me longer to aim. It was an unfair match, we should redo it." Steve said loudly. The crowd began to loosen up after hearing that explanation. It was more credulous for them to believe an excuse like that than to believe what their own eyes had seen. Everyone agreed for a rematch. Again, Riza had expected this.

"Let's do it lying down this time. That's how I usually shoot. After all, snipers shoot this way too. This time, I won't go easy on you." Steve said, but it seemed more to Riza that he was trying to convince himself.

They each reloaded five bullets and got on the floor. They placed their rifles on top of sandbags that were given to them and steadied themselves. Riza took a peek at Steve and noticed he was sweating profusely. It was easy to see how tense he had become because he wasn't wearing a shirt. This was a guaranteed victory. _I won't go easy on you either. _This time, Riza decided she would be serious. Steve didn't know this, but Riza could shoot a lot better when she was lying down too. From all her years of experience, she had gotten used to that position. When the signal was given, she shot as fast as she could.

"Th- th- th- three point thirty one seconds," said the timekeeper, not believing what he was saying himself.

Riza decided to end it there. She stood up, dusted herself and turned to look at him. He looked lost and confused; not believing what had just happened.

"I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Captain Riza Hawkeye from Central. Just to let you know, I won _all _the competitions I've been in, including the ones against the North, the East, the South and the West. It's a pleasure to meet you."

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "H- Haw- Hawkeye?" he stuttered. There was not one person who practiced marksmanship in the military that didn't know that name. She was practically considered a legend. In all of the military's history, she was the best of the best. Since a young age, she was gifted with remarkable eyesight and stability which were excellent assets. But it wasn't just raw talent; she was known to have practiced the most to achieve perfection. For many years, she had been the captain of central's sharpshooting team and had won all the competitions they had entered. But she suddenly gave up that position probably because she wanted to let the others have a chance at winning; although she never gave her explanation, that's what everybody thought. And it was true because no one was able to beat her, for she truly lived up to her name. She was a person to look up to and worthy of respect. Steve felt ashamed to have acted that way with her. The truth was he really looked up to her. If only he would've known who she was earlier, then he wouldn't have acted the way he did.

"I'm glad to see you two have met," said Colonel Solomon. Everyone snapped into salute, but he just waved it off. "Warrant Officer Orser, this is Captain Hawkeye. I assigned her to your group to help as a guide when you guys go out to the battlefield. I hope all of you will accept her and trust her. She will be of great help to you."

"Yes sir," replied Steve.

….Central Headquarters….

It was Monday and Fuery was the first one to arrive at work. It was ten to eight. He was early, but normally Hawkeye would always be there before him. He told himself that everyone had their late days too, and went to get the day's worth of paperwork. One by one, the others came in. Each one that came in was surprised to see that Hawkeye hadn't arrived yet. When Havoc came rushing through the doors, the first thing he said was, "I'm sorry I'm late! Please forgive me Hawkeye." His head was down, eyes closed and hand clasped together, pleading.

"She's not here yet," said Breda, laughing at him.

"What?" Havoc looked up and, indeed, her desk was empty. "Wow, I never thought I'd live to see the day Hawkeye would be late for work. I bet she had a hookup," he snickered.

"No way. I bet she forgot to put her alarm on and is still sleeping right now," said Breda.

"Aren't you guys worried that she might be sick?" asked Fuery. The others stopped and stared at him. Falman just signed and shook his head side to side.

"Fuery, Hawkeye is _never_ sick. It's just not possible for the ice queen to get sick," said Havoc, and the others agreed.

Their bets went on until the colonel had arrived. Surprisingly he was quite early for a Monday. It was only eight fifteen.

"What's going on boys?" he asked, seeing them acting like fools so early in the morning.

"Hawkeye's late sir," Falman answered.

Upon hearing this, the colonel looked around the room and to her desk. _That's weird. She's never late. Damn and it had to be today, the only day I actually made an effort to come in early. _"Get to work everyone. She's allowed to be late just like us too. It's not the end of the world. And stop your bets now," he ordered and walked to his desk. He was now in a bad mood. He wanted to surprise her and show her that he was capable of coming in early to work on a Monday. He knew that she was upset last week, even if nobody else noticed, he was the only one who could see through her. He wanted to make it up to her this week. _I guess I'm going to have to wait until next week. _

Roy took the responsibility to make sure everyone was working. Even he himself had started on his pile. But time was passing by and she still hadn't arrived. It was already nine. _Something's definitely not right. Maybe she got in an accident. No, that can't be, she doesn't drive. Wait, but pedestrians can get hurt too. _His mind was being filled with horrible images and he was growing more and more agitated. The others knew the colonel hadn't been productive with his work for the past twenty minutes. They could see him fumbling with anything he touched. He was on the same paper for god knows how long now. They knew he was waiting for Hawkeye impatiently, but tried to pretend he didn't care. Whenever they laughed between themselves, the colonel would yell at them. It was a funny sight to see. However, a few moments went by and Roy had started unconsciously tapping his pen on his desk.

"Dammit sir! If you want to find her so bad, just give her a call. Don't take it out on the pen. It's annoying!" Havoc said, finally snapping. Roy glared at him, but couldn't say anything because he knew Havoc was right. He couldn't concentrate anymore because he kept thinking about her.

He got up and walked around the room in deep thought. He was debating whether he should call her or not. _Will she be mad at me If I call her? It wouldn't be fair because I always come late. I don't have the right to rush her. But I'm her commanding officer! But what if she gets angry, it's pretty scary. No I don't think this is a good idea. _He looked towards the others, deciding he should ask them for their opinion, but all he saw were annoyed, unfriendly glares. "Fine, I'll call," said a hurt Roy.

He went to his desk and made the call. But there was no answer. He growled and stomped his way to her desk. This was driving him insane. _Where is she? _On her desk, he noticed a small white envelope with his name on it. He picked it up and knew that it was Riza's neat handwriting.

"Was this always here guys?" he asked the others, holding up the envelope for them to see. But none of them seemed to know what it was. He went back to his desk and sat down. _I suppose I should open it. It is addressed to me after all. _Inside, he found a letter and a key. The letter said:

_Dear Colonel Mustang,_

_Do you remember how I told you that my father was disowned by his father? My grandfather was angry at him for studying alchemy. But my father would not give it up, so he was forced to leave._

_Recently, I received a letter and a phone call from someone saying that my grandfather on my father's side was ill and wanted to see me before he passed away. The person who contacted me was actually my uncle, my father's younger brother._

_As you know, I have accumulated more than a year's worth of vacation throughout the years and I'm planning to use them to go meet my family. I always thought that my parents and my grandfather were the only family I had, so this meeting means a lot to me. I hope you can understand that. I don't know how long I will be away, but I know I will definitely come back. I've left my name on my desk, but if ever someone else were to replace me, please don't hesitate to offer them my desk._

_P.S. Can I ask you a favor colonel? There is a key to my apartment in this envelope. Could you take care of Hayate while I'm away please? I'll pay you back for the food and other expenses when I return. Thank you so much._

_Sincerely, _

_First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye_

Roy reread it many times. No matter how many times he read it, it was still the same thing. She had left. And he didn't know when she would return. He didn't even know where she went. His hands were shaking and his mind was racing. The others, concerned that the colonel had suddenly become dead quiet, asked if he was alright.

"Hawkeye left. She went to visit her family," Roy said in a monotonous voice.

"When will she be back?" asked Fuery.

"I don't know. She didn't say." He leaned into his chair and turned to face the window behind him. The others exchanged worried looks. They knew how much the colonel cared for the lieutenant no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

Roy was spacing out. He felt lost and hopeless. He didn't feel comfortable knowing he didn't know anything about Hawkeye's situation. He didn't know where or for how long she would be gone. _Why didn't she tell me anything? _But then he remembered on Friday night, how she had asked for a bit of him time. _Oh my god, how could I have been so stupid! She was trying to tell me but I didn't give her a chance because of a stupid date._ Roy felt deep regret. He had hurt her again. Why couldn't he ever do anything right. Everything he did always made him seem like he didn't like her, but it was the complete opposite. He felt nervous around her because he liked her so much and lost composure. To avoid that, he went out with other girls to see if he could regain his confidence. But it was never anything more than just a simple date. He never went over to their houses or brought them over to his. He'd rather go to a bar afterwards and drink by himself. He decided he'd have to wait for her to return when she would be ready, and then he would apologize to her. He needed to take care of Hayate for her. That was the least he could do.

He was happy for her to have found some more relatives. He knew she grew up in a lonely and quiet environment. It was good for her to experience living with a real family for once. She deserved it and he wasn't going to try to ruin it for her. As much as it drove him crazy, he would have to wait here patiently. _Oh hell, I'll work my way up the ranks and become the fuhrer. When she comes back, I'll surprise her. _He smiled to himself, not knowing that would be his last true smile in a long time.

A.N.: I don't think I'm going to be able to update everyday, lol. It's too much work, sorry guys, but I'll try not to take too long to update each chapter. I want to make them longer, because I personnaly like reading stories with long chapters :)

P.S. Don't be surprised if there are some typing errors, or missing words here and there. I tend to do that when I type...

Hope you enjoy it. And it doesn't hurt to review!


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Riza woke up at the same time. But this time, when she got out of her tent, most of the other men were already awake. Some of them jumped when she came out and all snapped into a salute. They were afraid she would hold a grudge against them for what they did to her. After all, they were very rude and even tried to humiliate her. They got out of her way and refused to meet her eyes as she walked towards the sink to wash her face. When she was done, she wiped her face dry with her towel. The others were really bothering her. She was simply using the sink but all of them seemed like they were struck with fear, frozen in place, as if the smallest movement they made would make her lash out at them. She sighed. _This wasn't going to work. _She turned to look at them; they gasped and backed away. She frowned and said, "I'm not angry at you guys." But her face wasn't very convincing. The stern look on her face didn't help them feel at ease at all. She noticed how some of them had looked up and tried to smile at her, but they were very nervous. It was then that Steve came out of his tent. He wasn't the same person as he was yesterday. He had reflected upon his actions the whole night and realized how foolish he had been the day before. When he saw her, he stopped in the middle of his track and looked away, feeling ashamed. Riza knew he felt bad about what he had done. She knew he was young and still immature in life. She'd have to give him a lecture later on to make sure things like this never happened again.

"At nine hundred hours, I expect all of you to gather at the training field. I'm going to watch and see how you shoot during practice," she said before leaving for the cafeteria.

"Yes ma'am," all of them answered. It was only until she was further away, that they slowly started to move again.

People looked at her differently. It has only been a day, but she was now very known throughout the whole camp. Whenever she passed in front of other soldiers, they all saluted her and she would just nod her head. That means, everywhere she went, people stopped and saluted. It was quite an annoyance to her. She wasn't used to all the attention and it aggravated her. She wanted things to go back to the way they were, when she could walk through a large crowd without others noticing her. It was much easier and less troublesome. That was why most of the people didn't know who she was. They knew of her name but not what she looked like. But now she had no choice but to put up with all this. When she entered the cafeteria, many people got up to salute, but she quickly waved it off and told them to sit down. She was, unfortunately, the center of attention. On her way to the counter, she noticed Rachel and the others at a table. They seemed hesitant to look at her. _I guess they don't want to speak to me anymore. _She went and sat alone. She could hear the others whisper, telling each other stories and rumours. _'Hawkeye? You mean the best sharpshooter? Why is she here?', 'I bet she had a hot body', 'Roy Mustang? She worked for the Flame alchemist? I bet they slept together'. _She just ignored it all.

Then she felt a presence beside her and looked up. It was Rachel. She looked like she wanted to say something but just couldn't bring herself to speak up. Riza motioned for her to sit down, so she did. Riza waited until she was ready to speak.

"Captain Hawkeye, we would like to apologize for our rude behaviours yesterday, we didn't know you were our superior because you were wearing your coat. We-" Rachel started.

"Is that what's bothering you? In that case, then I forgive you. I don't mind the way things were yesterday. I actually prefer it that way. It would be better for all us us if we could become friends and forget about the ranks and formalities," Riza said, cutting her of. "I thought you were upset that I had kept my rank hidden. I knew that things would be different if you knew about it. So, I hope you don't feel burdened by my status and just speak like you normally do"

Rachel's face had brightened up and she smiled widely. She waved for the others to come join them and they quickly made their way over.

"Captain, I'm glad you can forgive us," wailed Samantha, laughing all at the same time. She was a very loud girl compared to the shy Beverly beside her.

This time, all the girls had gathered and they were all sitting around Riza. One of them introduced herself. "I'm Captain Sergeant Sabrina Joyce and this is Sergeant Helen Logan. It's a great honor to meet you Captain Hawkeye."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Captain Sergeant, Sergeant," she greeted the two.

Riza ate a few more bites, but stopped when she suddenly felt an uncomfortable chill run up her spine. The girls were looking at her with wide smiles and sparkling eyes, ready for gossip. When they saw Riza had given them her attention, they stated to talk.

"You don't know how happy I am right now, ma'am. Did you guys see Steve's face yesterday? When he lost? It was priceless!" said Samantha.

"I know! And it's all thanks to the Captain. You got rid of his arrogance and rotten attitude. Thank god you taught him a lesson," said Helen.

"I'm sorry for ever doubting you Captain. I didn't know you were _the _Hawkeye. I thought it was too good to be true for you to be here," laughed Rachel. "You know, everybody's been talking about you after that challenge. Everyone's been praising you non stop! Even I was amazed. I've heard about you before and knew you were the best, but that match was beyond my expectations. It's the first time I saw a match like that. You're really amazing!"

This just added to Riza's uneasiness. "Thank you," she said. What else could she say? She wasn't the type of person to boast about herself and say how good she was. Riza was a very humble and generous person. The girls had already figured out what kind of person she was and they all really liked her. They found it funny to see how difficult it was for her to answer them without sounding conceited.

At nine o'clock, she was at a wide training field close to their camp. This was a place for soldiers to spar, shoot and exercise. There was a makeshift outdoor shooting range on the side and that's where she had all the men assemble. They all stood in a strait line facing her and awaiting instructions. Riza stalked in front of them, observing. Riza's eyes scrutinized every little detail, which made them very tense and nervous. It was a hot day and they had all removed their uniform jackets and only wore their military t-shirts or wife-beaters. She, herself, was in a military issued black tank top.

"I want all of you to do your regular shooting exercises. I will be observing your practice, but I want you to pretend I'm not here and just do what you usually do. Steve, since you were their leader, you'll be the one in charge of this practice," Riza told them. Her speech didn't reassure them one bit. How can one relax and pretend she wasn't there when they knew they were going to be judged by the best. This was worst than their military admission exam. It was just plain nerve-racking. They stiffly moved to their positions. The practice today was to start shooting at small distances and gradually increase it. Each one would start at 100 meters and after hitting the bull's eye ten times, they could move the target fifty meters further. Riza knew she had an omnipotent presence right now. She could see how nervous they were. Everyone was shooting slowly, making sure to hit the target. No one wanted to miss and embarrass themselves in front of the Captain. But this was good practice for them. They needed to know how to shoot under deep pressure, because on the battlefield, the enemies were not going to wait for them to take aim.

They were better than she expected though. She wanted to make sure they had good positions and wanted to correct any bad habits. As she walked behind them, she noticed one of them struggling with a target at a 200 meters distance. His position was awkward and it was making it difficult for him to shoot properly. She came up behind him and asked, "what's your name soldier?" He answered, "I- I am Corporal Mike Koss, ma'am." His eyes showed panic and distress. He thought Hawkeye was definitely here scold him for lack of practice and incompetence.

"Your right shoulder is too low. Keep them strait. If you put down your elbow, it's going to give you better stability and it'll probably be more comfortable for you too," she advised. Then she told him to give it a try. It helped considerably, but he was still too tense. Riza laid down beside him, put her arms over him and held his rifle with him. Koss, startled by the sudden presence pressed against his back, was petrified in place. He felt heat rush to his head and suddenly felt suffocated. This was the first time a woman was this close to him. "C- Captain, what are you doing?" he asked with a shaky voice.

"Look through the scope, release your grip a little and relax your muscles. You're too tense and it's making it difficult for you shoot. If you're like this for a long period of time it's going to take its toll on your body," she was telling him. Her head was right beside his; her breath on his ear and her breasts pressed against his back. Koss had never felt this hot in his life. He thought he was coming down with a fever. He needed to do this right, because he couldn't take her being so close anymore. He did what she told him to do, and with her guiding him, he shot three times, all hitting the target's bull's eye. He was in such a deep concentration that he didn't notice Hawkeye had already stood up. After he successfully hit the target, he turned around, excitedly, and smiled at her. "I hit it Captain!" he exclaimed like a little child who finally solved a puzzle.

Riza nodded to him in approval and told him, "Keep in mind what I told you and continue practicing. I can tell you have a talent, but you just need to polish it up. Keep it up corporal." Those few words of praise were able to boost up his moral and he made sure to keep in mind her advices.

The practice went on with no problem after that. She had concluded that they were all quite skilled . Most of them could shoot well at distances of 300 to 400 meters, while a few others went up to 450, like Steve. Although, she gave them approval from this practice session, she didn't know how they would be out on the real battlefield. No simulation or practice could ever depict a real life situation.

That night, Riza was sitting at her night table looking at a map of the area and analyzing how this battle was coming along. From the reports she received from Colonel Solomon, she was surprised to see how well the Iods were fending off. For a makeshift army, she had to admit their tactics and actions were very well thought out. This battle was going to be a challenge for them if they wanted to end it quickly. A long war was never good. It would only bring more fatalities for both sides, grief, grudges and more anger. The military had already tried to talk to them to come up with a peaceful agreement, but they were convinced that there was no other solution but to forcefully destroy the military's constitution, since they couldn't be trusted. They were angry with the way the military worked and wanted to explicitly show their opposition. However, no matter how angry one was, Riza thought that violence was never the answer, because wars tended to affect more than just the ones fighting in it; families, friends, children and parents all had to bear the consequences.

Riza had a small pocketbook that she kept as a journal. She wrote in it everyday and it was a good way for her to convey her feelings. War was a though place to survive in and she found that writing in a journal relieved her stress and put her mind at ease. She had done the same thing during Ishbal and it had help her greatly.

As she was finishing her day's entry, someone called her from outside her tent. She told them to enter. "Colonel Solomon has asked to see you Captain Hawkeye," said the messenger. She nodded and stood up. Outside her tent, the others were all sitting around a fire, talking and drinking casually. She walked passed them and headed towards the colonel's tent.

When she left, Mike asked himself out loud, "I wonder where she's going?" but soon realized his mistake and checked to see if anyone had heard him. They did, and they were all snickering and laughing.

"You're the youngest one but I didn't know you could be so sly," said someone. His name was Jordan.

"Wha- What do you mean?" Mike confusedly asked, dreading what was about to come.

"Oh don't play dumb with us! We all saw how you got Hawkeye to 'help you out'," Jordan added.

"No she was just giving me advice. Nothing happened," he tried to defend himself.

"I saw how she pressed herself against you Mike. It must've felt good having your superior's breasts up against you right? You gotta admit she's hot. For a little innocent boy like you, it must have been hard to bear,. Did she get you all hot and bothered?" a man named Hans asked. The others all laughed out loud. Mike was all red and embarrassed. He didn't like it when they put him on the spot like that.

"Too bad she's so serious and uptight. Hey, I bet she's different in bed though. She looks like a wild-" Hans continued, but was cut off by Steve.

"Stop it Hans. Don't speak of her that way." Steve was not laughing and had an angry look on his face. After he lost to her and found out who she was, he genuinely gave her his respect and didn't accept anyone making fun of her or saying anything rude. The others, seeing him this fiery, didn't want to push it any further, and just changed the subject.

At Solomon's tent, Riza entered after she had asked for permission.

"Good evening Captain Hawkeye. How's everything going with the gang?" he asked her casually.

"It's going very well, sir."

"That's a good thing to hear. But that's not why I called you here tonight. I have your next mission. Come here." He brought her around his table with all the forces positioned on a map. "In three days, your team is going to be deployed here." He pointed to a camp set up close to the front line. "This is the main force that is fighting against our enemy. Right now, the situation doesn't seem to be too good and they're in dire need of reinforcements. Your team is going to be that reinforcement and help cover them on the field. There's a Major there in charge. His name is John Montgomery. When you get there, report to him and he will tell you what to do from there." Seeing that Riza hadn't said anything and was staring at the map, he added, "I know you've just arrived here and now you're already going out, but they really need your help. The boys here have been on standby for quite some time. I don't really have a choice but to send them out."

When Riza heard him say that, she quickly answered, "sir, it's not a problem for me. I'm ready to head out at anytime."

Solomon gave her a encouraging smile and said, "Alright, that's good to hear. There will be some caravans ready to take you guys there in three days. Make sure you get them ready."

"Yes, sir."

Riza left the tent and headed back to the snipers' camp. She was feeling uneasy about this. She knew her team was fresh out of military training. They had never been in a war before, much less shot someone. No matter how they said they were ready, they didn't know what to expect. She knew she was going to have to look after them and make sure they didn't lose themselves out there. When she arrived at their tents, she was about to enter her own tent, but stopped at the entrance. She wanted to tell them tomorrow morning, but decided it would probably be better to tell them now. That way, they had the night to think about it. She slowly walked towards them. The men hushed and watched her. She stood at the edge of their circle and looked at all of them. Them her gaze fell on Mike. "How old are you Koss?" she asked. He was perplexed at her question, but answered, "I'm nineteen ma'am." She went around and asked them all for their age. The age range went from nineteen to twenty six. _Too young; they're too young for this, _she thought. She didn't want someone like Mike to have to experience the horror of killing someone. She was glad Steve was the same age as her. Maybe he would be able to survive through this and help the others too.

She took a few steps closer to make sure what she was about to say could be heard by everyone.

"Listen up closely men. In three days, we are to move to the front lines to give support to our forces. I have all seen you practise today and I can tell you have all trained well, but a real life battle is different from the simulations you had at military school. It's a harsh and bitter world out there. Each person you kill is the same thing as taking away a loved one from their family. War only brings hatred and sadness to the world. I want you all to understand that. They're afraid of death as much as you are. You need to prepare yourselves mentally and make sure not to lose your sanity. I've seen many people break down and most of them end up taking their own lives to end the haunting images of war." Riza stopped and looked at them. They were listening closely to her and were all registering what she was saying. "I will be there to help you. But all of you have to help each other too. We're a team, so trust each other and count on one another. This will help you greatly in getting through this. You will all understand when we get there. So make sure you rest well for the next two nights."

She finished and was about to leave when Steve asked, "Have you ever killed someone captain?"

Riza paused for a bit, then looked him in the eye. "Yes I have; countless times. My hands have been stained in blood a long time ago. That's why I wished you guys would never have to go through the same thing as me." Steve saw the sadness and sorrow in her eyes and didn't say anything else. She left them sitting there with apprehensive looks. She hoped her speech was enough to give them an image of what was to come. They needed to know now so they could be a little more prepared. But the thing she saw in all their eyes was fear. And it was that fear that would keep them alive.

The day of their departure came quickly and they were all aboard the caravans that were bringing them to the front. They had separated in two groups of eight because they couldn't all fit in one. There were other soldiers going as well. She spotted Rachel and Helen in one of the other caravans. She kept in mind to go look for them when she had the time. It was about an hours drive until they arrived. Riza saw how her team was feeling restless. After hearing about their mission, they weren't able to sleep well. It was the same for her when she was in Ishbal. Fear and anxiety prevented her from sleeping. She supposed this was happening to them too.

When they arrived, she told the boys to wait there for her and went to find Major Montgomery to know where they were supposed to be stationed. She walked through the camp and saw how different it looked from the one they were in just an hour ago. After all, this was just a temporary one. They were always on the move, moving forward whenever they defeated the enemy in front. She saw wounded soldiers on stretchers, lying on on the dirt or leaning against a wall. Most of them had grim faces, the ones that were haunted and mentally wounded by this war; while others were keeping themselves sane by putting up a show and pretending to enjoy themselves. There was no other choice; it was either go crazy or find a way to stay sane. She spotted the Major by his shoulder badges. He was standing in the middle of the camp giving out orders. She went up to him and saluted.

"Major Montgomery, sir. I am Captain Riza Hawkeye. Colonel Solomon sent my team and I here as a reinforcement."

"Hawkeye was it? I'm glad we will be receiving your help. I expect great things from you Captain. The Colonel told me about your team. You will be assigned to cover our soldiers in two different areas. Separate in two groups and follow the others. We will soon commence our ambush in the town of Valeria. It's been seized by them a while back and they've put up quite a strong defense. If we can take back this town, it would be a turnaround point for us. This is a very important mission." He told her. Montgomery continued to explain to her the situation and told her where they had to go meet with the others. He gave her a quick briefing about their camp and where they could get food, water and supplies. Basically he explained what was necessary to survive out here.

When he was done, she headed back to the others. But as she got closer, she saw a crowd forming around the place she had told the boys to wait. They were arguing with another group of soldiers. And without a doubt, it was the hot-headed Steve that was in the middle of the quarrel against someone else who seemed to be the leader of the group. _I just left them for a couple of minutes and this is what happens? Why are they always like this, they never learn_, Riza sighed.

"How can you little chickadees survive out here? Look at that guy, he looks like he's about to shit in his pants." the other guy pointed at Mike and they all laughed at him.

"What did you say? Just because we're new doesn't mean you can treat us that way! It's because you guys weren't good enough that we had to come and save your asses." Steve growled, defending Mike.

The other guy was now furious. It was insulting to have a young, new soldier who never shot at anyone before say that they were here to _save _them. They glared at each other with hate in their eyes ready to kill the other one if needed.

"Spencer! Orser! That's enough." Riza ordered.

"L- Lieutenant Hawkeye? What are you doing here?" asked a surprised Spencer.

"It's Captain Hawkeye, Jacob. I've just arrived here as reinforcement. This is my team. They're your juniors, so I expect you to be nice to them and help them out if necessary." Riza told him. She faced her team and introduced them, "This is Second Lieutenant Jacob Spencer, boys. He used to be in the central team with me back in the days. He's very skilled and could be of help to you. Show him your respect."

"Yes, ma'am," they said. Steve was still glaring at him.

Hawkeye then turned to Jacob and gave him a stern look. "Don't look down on my men. They might be young and inexperienced, but they're not fools. Don't underestimate them," she warned him. He nervously laughed, scratched behind his head and apologized. His team was surprised to see him give in so easily. Spencer was a big man with a large presence that would never give in to any argument. They had never seen him like this before; so easily defeated by a mere woman. But they didn't know how deeply afraid he was of Hawkeye. She was not a person to mess with, especially not when she was angry. Jacob had learnt a haunting lesson he would never forget for the rest of his life when he had provoked her once. Ever since then he never dared to argue against her.

It was still morning and they had to start right away. In a few hours they were supposed to head into battle. Riza had separated them into two groups of eight, with Steve and her leading each one.

"Orser, I'm counting on you to look after them. You're their leader now, so you have that responsibility now," Riza told him. "Don't lose yourself out there. Stay calm, because they will need your support. You have to be a person they can depend on. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll do my best." he answered and saluted before heading off.

Each group went to present themselves to the other soldiers. There were two groups, each one responsible of one side of the town. Their plan was to gradually surround them and corner the enemy in the middle of the town and make them surrender. Riza instructed her group to move in teams of two and find high buildings where they could have a good aim and back up the foot soldiers. She told Mike to follow her because she wanted to keep and eye on him. They quickly made their way to an abandoned building and cautiously entered. Riza felt adrenaline pump through her and moved very fast through each floor, making sure to scan the area. Mike was behind her, trying to stay calm. But he was sweating and breathing heavily. When he found himself a good spot and propped himself down, he was startled by the sound of gunfire. Hawkeye was already settled and shooting. He tried to calm himself down and concentrate, but he was having great difficulties doing so. Suddenly he had an anxiety attack.

Riza looked up and rushed to him. He rolled him onto his back and tried to calm him down.

"Corporal Koss! You need to calm down. Control yourself!" She tried telling him, but it was not working. She took his head between her hand and looked at him in the eye. "Look at me Mike. Look at me! Calm down. Take deep breaths. Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong?" He was coughing and trying to catch his breath, and eventually calmed down. But she saw fear in his eyes and couldn't help but pity him.

"I- I'm scared captain. I'm scared of killing someone. I don't want to kill anyone," he explained.

"You don't need to kill anyone. You can make them unable to fight, but you don't need to kill them. I know it's hard. But don't worry, you'll be fine. Don't shoot at a vital spot. Just shoot so they can't continue fighting. We can weaken their forces without killing. But if you don't do anything, then you'll die. Not everyone's like you Mike. You have to accept that fact." Riza reassured him. Riza was very glad she brought him along. If he would have been with someone else, they would probably both start panicking.

Mike did what Riza had told him to do. He was shooting just to injure them and it was less of a burden for him. The truth is, Riza was doing the same thing. Roy had told her once that he didn't want her to kill anyone for his sake anymore. So he told her to do it this way and from then on, she had kept it that way.

As she was shooting, she spotted out of the corner of her eye two armed men entering a building. They had circled around them and entered without being seen. Her eyes widened when she saw what building they had entered. Two of her men were in there on the top floor and they didn't know about it. If they found them then she was sure they would be killed. She cursed under her breath and got up.

"Where are you going captain?" asked Mike after seeing her stand up abruptly.

"There are two men that got into that building. If they find Jordan and Hans, then it's the end for them. I'm going to go help them. You stay here and lay low. Don't leave and don't make any noises until I get back, got it? If ever something happens, hide or run away. I won't be long." She told him and left.

She was using everything she had learnt and put them in use. She moved in the shadows stealthily and made her way over to the other building. She didn't have much time if she wanted to save them. She had her handgun ready and took careful steps in. _I hope I'm not too late. _She went up the four story building quickly. As she was about to open the door to the fourth floor, she heard a gunshot followed by an agonizing scream. She looked through the crack and saw Jordan crouched on the floor holding his bleeding shoulder. Hanz was in front of him, shielding him and holding up his handgun shakily. The two other men laughed at how pathetic they looked.

Riza kicked the door open, rushed toward the one holding the gun. He turned around to shoot but before he could, she moved to the side, grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind him. He dropped his gun and screamed in pain when she dislocated his shoulder. The other one had taken out his gun, ready to shoot her back. Riza turned around and shielded herself with the guy she was holding. The guy had shot three times before he realized he had killed his partner. She took this chance to kick his gun out of his hand, then spin kicked his head. He fell to the ground unconscious.

Riza breathed heavily. It's been a long time since she's had such a rush like that. Jordan and Hanz were looking at her with wide eyes, speechless. Riza looked at Jordan and saw that it wasn't a lethal one. She sighed in relief.

"Hanz, take Jordan back to camp and get him treated. I'm going to get others to help us bring this fellow in for questioning." She ordered.

They did as they were told. It only took a few minutes until some other soldiers came and carried the tied up unconscious man back to their camp. Before Riza returned to base, she went back to get Mike who was so relieved to see her again he started crying. Riza had to, once again, calm him down.

...Central Headquarter...

The next few days after Riza had left, Roy hadn't been the same. He came in to work in a gloomy mood. He was easily irritated now more than ever and the others could tell he was depressed. The lieutenant's absence was weighing heavily on him. They noticed how he would always stare at her desk longingly. As much as Havoc hated him for stealing his girlfriends, he pitied how he was now, like a lost puppy waiting for his master to come back. It was a sad sight to see.

It has already been a month and a half since the day he found out Riza had left. Ever since then, he felt that his world had become black and white. Nothing interested him anymore, he had long stopped seeing other girls and was actually getting a decent amount of work done everyday. Those who weren't his direct subordinates thought he was finally getting serious with his work, but Havoc and the others knew for sure that it was lovesick. Roy was like a man that had lost his life long partner and ceased to function properly. The colonel they had known was no longer the same. He was now like a robot, doing things routinely and without emotions. But they didn't know how sad and lonely he reallyfelt. He, himself, had never realized how much he needed her beside him.

What people didn't know was that the fiery will inside him was still strong and alive. He had made a promise to himself that he would go up the ranks, if possible, become fuhrer, before Hawkeye returned.

One day, someone knocked on the door of his office and came in to tell him a General Hall had called for him. He was quite surprised he had been called by him. Roy knew who the general was, but never had a conversation with him before. _I wonder why he called me all of a sudden, _he thought. He made his way to the general's office and knocked before entering. He snapped into a salute.

The General smiled and said, "Welcome Colonel. I'm sure you're wondering why I sought you out. I have a offer for you that could benefit you greatly if well handled."

Roy was surprised but at the same time curious. The general, seeing the confused look in Roy's eyes, continued, "I'm sure you've heard of the conflict in the West against a group of revolutionaries called the Iods. Well, we're looking for someone who's a good tactician to lead our forces. We want to end this war as quickly as possible and to avoid the most loss we can. We're hoping you'd take up this position. If you can resolve this conflict, I'm sure your past victory and this one will help raise your reputation don't you think?"

"Yes, I'm honored to take up that responsibility, sir. But may I ask you why you chose me, sir? I'm sure there are many others who are capable of this." Roy tried asking.

Hall laughed out loud. "It's because of a certain lieutenant I met. She really amused me and I took a liking to her. She's very devoted to you, did you know that colonel? Before she left, she came to tell me how great a tactician you were and said you could lead our forces to victory. How bold of her, I thought. But her determination touched me. If I were you, I would cherish her. Make sure you do that Colonel Mustang."

Roy just nodded, still looking kind of lost. He couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. How was it that, even if she was gone, Hawkeye was still able to help him. She really was his right hand woman even when she was absent. But he didn't know why Hawkeye could have come in contact with General Hall. From what he knew, Hawkeye had never once talked to him, just like himself. It just didn't click. But he guessed Hawkeye had her ways with everything. He never knew how she was able to do all the things she did for him. She was, after all, his 'super woman'.


	5. Chapter 5

Riza didn't know how long if it has already been since they started this operation; maybe two months. The man she had captured did not reveal anything to them no matter what they did. She wasn't the one doing the questioning, so she didn't know if they used torture or not. But, apparently, just one or two nights after he was brought in, he had committed suicide by biting his own tongue and bleeding himself to death. Nobody knew about it until the next morning when they went in to give him food and water. And that was the end of their only source of information about the enemy. They were very loyal to each other and were prepared to die for their cause. Since then, the war was still going on everyday. Their plan wasn't working out well. They had underestimated their defense. They just couldn't move closer in, no matter how much of their soldiers they killed or wounded, they seemed to be replaced by others. But they had been surrounded by the military, so reinforcements were impossible. So it was a real mystery for them that was preventing them from winning. The military had tried again to end it peacefully, but the Iods responded by launching a surprise attack.

Everyone was dirty and exhausted. This fight was dragging on too long and it affected everyone's moral. Each time they believed it was going to end, the enemy would suddenly have new forces and counter their attacks. The worst part was that nobody knew how the enemy was reinforcing himself. It left everyone confused and frustrated. Riza's team had lost two men since then. They were in the same situation as Jordan and Hanz were in. However, no one had seen the enemy go in, so nobody went to help them. Steve blamed himself about his lack of attention that led to the death of two of his comrades. It had deeply affected him, but also the others around him. Riza tried to talk to him and explain that it was not his fault, but something that he had no control over. But she could not make him forget the grief and guilt he felt after losing them. It pained her to see the sorrowful look in his eyes.

The once loud and active team she had was slowly deteriorating. Jacob and the others had become good friends with them and fought together often. At night, he often went to go look for Hawkeye, but was playfully denied access to her tent by the others. He had taken the role of an older brother to his juniors and she was glad that some nights, they had lively conversations and the sound of laughter in the air.

Jacob was walking towards Riza's camp, hoping he could spend some time talking with her that night.

"You're here again Jacob? Stop coming every night. She doesn't want to see you!" yelled Steve. Jacob stopped and walked towards them. He hit Steve behind the head and took a seat beside him.

He sighed and said, "Why doesn't she want to see me? She's always busy. It's not fair."

"Aw, poor you. The woman you love is your superior that refuses to see you. Dude, it's obvious she doesn't think of you that way. If she was interested then you wouldn't be having that much trouble getting her attention, trust me." said Steve.

"Hey! Who says I like her! I just wanted to discuss about some work stuff. If it wasn't that serious then I wouldn't be here so often." Jacob exclaimed. His face was red, which made it even more obvious about his feelings for Hawkeye.

The others didn't believe him but just decided to let it be. Once he was convinced about something, it was impossible to make him change his opinion. That night, beer had been distributed to try to cheer up the soldiers. They were now drinking around a fire and talking. Riza came out of her tent, grabbed a beer and sat down with the others. They all stopped and looked at her.

"What? Am I not allowed to drink?" she asked with a glare. She hated it when they reacted this way. She knew it was rare that she sat down with them, but they didn't need to react this way every time she did so.

"No, please go ahead Captain. We're glad you wanted to join us tonight," said Steve. Jacob tried to get up to go sit beside her, but Steve pushed him back down. All the boys started laughing. He really wasn't discrete at all.

"So what were you guys talking about before I got here?" she asked, trying to continue the conversation before she had arrived.

"Oh Justin was just telling us about his girlfriend and his family. Apparently he wants to propose to her when he returns home." said Jacob.

The conversation went on that way; each of them talking about their past and present relationships. Most of them were single. But she was surprised that some of them had their girlfriends breakup with them when they had been sent to war. Riza quietly sat there and listened. It was interesting to know a little more about her team and to get to know what kind of person they were. When all of them had said a little bit about their love life, Jacob turned to Hawkeye and hesitantly asked, "Um, so what about you Hawkeye? Do you have anyone special?"

That was the thing everyone wanted to know. Riza Hawkeye was a beautiful woman, but because of her job and serious attitude, it was difficult for people to approach her. That was why many people often wondered if she had anyone she liked.

If it would have been any other time, Riza would not have answered that question. But she had grown fond of her boys and it wasn't like they were going to tell everyone about it. Plus, she had already drank two beers which allowed her to lower her guard a bit. She never was very good at holding her alcohol. The others were looking at her in total silence, anticipating her answer.

"I do have someone special to me. But that person doesn't know about it and probably will never know about it." Riza said.

Jacob pouted and the others were just sitting there, waiting for her to continue.

"I've never been in a relationship before. No one has ever been interested in me that way. It's understandable, my job doesn't leave me with much time to spare. So I don't have the time to think about dating."

Everyone's mouth dropped, stared at her in disbelief. They could not believe Riza had never dated anyone before. But what shocked them the most was the low self-esteem she had. They had never expected someone like her to have that kind of personality. But then again, if they were to say anything about it, nobody knew how she would react to it. But what they knew for sure was that they wanted to stay alive, so they didn't press it any further. Slowly, but surely, they were all starting to understand Riza a little better. Before, they all thought she would be a stuck-up bitch, but now they knew that she was kind, caring and very down to earth. But after tonight, all of them agreed that she was also cute at times. The rest of the night was entertaining; there were stories about their achievements, funny stories during their training days, stories of their competitions, and so on. It's been a long time since Riza had a good social gathering like this one and, although she didn't outwardly express it, Riza really enjoyed her night.

It was getting late and most of them had had a lot to drink, but they were still standing. Jacob was about to ask Hawkeye a question, but he noticed she had already drifted off to sleep. All of them quieted down, for, they really had unanticipated this to happen. It was almost impossible for anyone to catch Riza Hawkeye off guard and totally defenseless. But for her to have let it happen that night had really made them elated. They had wanted, for a long time, to become sharpshooters she could be proud of. The fact that she felt comfortable falling asleep around them meant that she trusted them enough to do this. A drunk Jacob eagerly volunteered to carry her to her tent, which caused the others to crackle up.

He carefully picked her up, one arm under her neck, the other behind her knees. He was surprised at how light and petite she was. When he entered her tent, he laid her down on her bed. He proceeded to remove her boots and undo her hair, then debated if he should remove her uniform jacket or not. In the end, he decided it would be more comfortable for her if he did. He slowly made her sit up and lean against him while he gingerly unbuttoned and slid it off. As he laid her back down, he stared at her. Her hair was down, her chest was slowly rising and falling, and her sleeping face was peaceful. He had never seen anyone so beautiful. At that thought, he realized what had just happened and nervously shuffled out of her tent. It was too dangerous for him, in that drunken state, to be in there with the woman he loved, passed out defenseless in front of him. He didn't want to risk anything happening and worsen their relationship, or risk getting shot.

A week later, Major Montgomery had called an emergency meeting of every group's leader. They were about six at the meeting. Upon their arrival, the Major got right down to business.

"We finally have and idea as to how they were able to reinforce themselves for all this time. Look here," he pointed to different areas around the town of Valeria. "These are a few of the entrances to the town's sewers. We think that they are using these entrances as a pathway from and to the center of the town. Without a doubt, this is the only possible way for them to move around without being noticed. I want all of you to separate into teams and search these areas. All of this has to be done at the same time, and make sure none of them men at these entrances escape. If they do, the ones already in the town will know and they might escape. We can't let that happen. Communication is the priority here. You must all strike at the same time."

They all saluted and left, but Riza stayed behind to ask the Major something.

"Major Montgomery, who was the one who figured this out?" she asked.

"I think I heard colonel Solomon say that it was Colonel Mustang from central. He had recently been appointed the tactician until this conflict is resolved. He's directing our forces from central. I'm glad someone like his is backing us up."

When Riza heard the colonel's name, her heart leaped and her eyes slightly widened in surprise. But her pokerface was promptly put up and the Major had not noticed it. She thanked him and left. Underneath her mask, she was full of glee. She had never expected General Hall to actually seek him out for help. Now she was even more glad she had done what she did for him. Not only did she protect him, but she gave him an opportunity to earn more followers and chances of promotions. But she abruptly stopped in her tracks as she realized something. What if the Colonel found out about her. What would he do if he knew she was out here. Deep down she already knew, but she dreaded the idea. She knew that he would instantly come the moment he found out about the truth. All she could do was wish he never found out about it.

Just as Roy had deducted, they really did use the sewers. There were five entrances used from the outside to supply the main force in the town. Like they were instructed, five teams went and ambushed them at the same time. Riza and five other were one of the teams. They had the one on the far south end of the town. There were two men keeping watch outside a small tent set up in the middle of the forest. As Riza waited for the signal, her team and her were crouched behind trees and bushes. When it was time to strike, two of her men knocked out the two enemies keeping watch and caught them before they fell to prevent the others from knowing about their presence. Riza counted to three before entering the tent with the three others backing her up. There were three men inside sitting around a table, who, after she burst in, scattered around hoping to get their weapons or escape. But it was no use, they were caught off guard and captured. They searched the area, and indeed, there was a hidden entrance to the sewers that was hidden beneath the tent. All the enemies from each location were captured alive and brought back to camp. This time they kept a close watch on them to prevent the same thing from happening again.

This time one of them had succumbed to them and told them valuable information regarding the enemy's plan. With that, the military had successfully cut off all of their supplies coming in and not long after, they had surrendered. Their victory was hugely celebrated. After such a long time, they were finally able to get past this problem. Although it wasn't the last of them, it was still one of their bases. The higher ups had recognized the work and achievements of Colonel Mustang that they awarded with with a promotion to Brigadier General, which he gladly accepted. The night Riza had heard about it, it was one of those rare nights when she would fall asleep smiling.

After that victory, with Brigadier General Mustang leading the forces from central, they had won many other battles, moving further and further into the enemy's territory. They could tell the Iods were in a panic; their forces were scattered around, their defense lacking, and they were retreating faster than ever. But things came to a halt as they got closer to their main base. They had all concentrated their forces there and the defense was very strong. No matter what they did, they could not break through. However, the military refused to create a massive extermination, for, that would only recreate the Ishbal war and anger the civilians. It's been over two months since their seize of Valeria. That night, Riza was summoned by the Major. She went in and saw that he was in deep concentration. When he noticed her, he said, "I have a mission for you Hawkeye. We need someone to scout the area ahead and find out how they've positioned their forces and their movements. It's a very dangerous mission, but you're the only one with enough skills to accomplish this. Do you think you can do it, Captain?"

"Yes, sir" she answered. She knew it was dangerous, but they had no other solutions right now. If they did nothing, this war would continue on forever. She decided that she would volunteer to head out.

"Good, Captain. I want you to go out in a two-man team. So choose someone to cover you. When the sun sets down, you'll go through this forest and make your way as close as you can to the enemy's base." he showed her a path on the west side that was densely covered by trees. The forest stretched out far and was connected to a mountain a little further away. That way, they could escape into the woods if ever something were to happen.

When they were done discussing about it, Riza went back to her tent. She knew that she was risking her life with this mission. It could be the last one she ever did. But she didn't want to think about it that way. Right now she was alive and she needed to come back alive; she had promised Roy she would. But the bad feeling was still in the back of her head. That afternoon, she called out for Steve. He came into her tent and she told him about the mission and how she wanted him to be her partner. He immediately agreed to it.

"Orser, you have to think of all the consequences. This mission isn't like any others you've been in. This might be the last mission you'll ever do. I want you to think carefully. I won't blame you if you don't want to." Riza told him. She didn't want him to regret anything.

"Captain Hawkeye. If it's to help you, I am prepared for anything. I'm honored to have been picked for this mission." Steve said confidently. She looked into his eyes and saw that his will did not waver.

She nodded and said, "tonight at twenty hundred, we'll depart. It'll take us about and hour of walk to get close to them. Go get ready."

They each had small backpacks for supplies in case of emergencies, their handguns and extra ammo, and their rifles. They were dressed in black outfits to blend in to the dark. As they were leaving, the other teammates wished them success. It was almost complete darkness in the forest. They were moving at a steady pace, with Steve following Riza closely behind. No noise was made throughout the whole way in case there were enemies scattered around. In the far distance, they suddenly spotted light and cautiously approached. It was a campfire with about a dozen men around it. Riza and Steve hid behind trees and shrubs and listened closely.

"Right now the military seems to be lacking in manpower. We dealt them quite the blow in our last attack. But it shouldn't be long before they receive reinforcements. We have to attack before then. Our best chance is tomorrow night. Look here," said a man as he pointed to a map. He was most likely their leader. "Our forces are currently closing in on them at this very moment. We're going to surround them and hopefully take over their base. If we can achieve that, we'll have all their supplies and hostages. Our main forces are going to attack like normally to distract them. But when the night comes, that's when we come in. Even if they outnumber us right now, it's the only chance we have. We can't screw this up guys. Tomorrow we'll meet up with the others."

Riza and Steve looked at each other and she gave him a hand signal move back slowly. They needed to return quickly and let the others know. They didn't have much time. In this darkness now, it would take them longer to return. In addition, they now knew there were others like them around, so they had to be extra careful. They slowly turned around and started to leave when, suddenly, a branch snapped under Steve's boot. He looked up in panic at Hawkeye, but she signalled him to stay still and wait. Unfortunately the enemies had heard it and were up on their feet, fully alert with their guns ready.

"Who's there?" one of them asked. Another one lifted up a flashlight and spotted them for a second before Riza grabbed Steve's wrist and yanked him away. They dashed away as fast as they could.

"There's a spy! Don't let them escape!" yelled the leader. If they got away then their plan would be ruined. He couldn't let that happen.

They opened fire on them and one of them got Steve's leg. He grunted and fell down on his knees. Riza swung his arm around her shoulder and propped him back up.

"We have to run, Steve. If you don't then we'll both die. We need to go warn them." she told him. But underneath that strong image, she was afraid they would get caught. With a wounded soldier, she knew they couldn't get very far before being caught. But the darkness was helping them. It proved much harder to pursuit them. Steve nodded and forced himself to run and bear with the pain.

When she thought they had lost them for now, she sat Steve down against a tree and started treating his wound. He had a bullet lodged into his thigh. She ripped his pants a bit to get a better view. It was bleeding a lot and she could tell the blood loss was starting to affect him. She took out a small knife from her bag and intently told him, "I'm going to remove the bullet. But you can't scream out. They'll find us if you do. Bite onto this. Bear with it Orser." She gave him a cloth she had ripped from the bottom of her pants for him to bite onto. With the little light she had, she had to feel around for the wound and imagine where it would be. He nodded when he was ready and she went in. She did it swiftly and neatly. Steve had shut his eyes tightly and was trying with all his strength to not yell out in pain. When she took out the bullet, she put a padding on it and tightly wrapped some clean bandages around.

"She wiped away his sweat on his forehead and said "you did well Steve. You should be alright for now."

Just then, they heard the bushes move and angry voices. They were closing in on them pretty quick and desperate to find them.

"Orser. You stay here and wait till they're gone, then go back to camp. I'm going to lure them away from you, so you have to do your best not to let them see you, understood?" she looked him in the eye and told him.

"What? Are you crazy? I won't leave you behind and save myself. I'm supposed to be here to protect you!" he whispered harshly.

"No, the situation is different now. If I leave then you're dead for sure. I'm fine so I'll be able to get away. I'm your superior so you have to do what I order you to do." she said. "You go first. I'll join you later. Trust me on this Orser." She was about to get up, but turned back to him and added, "If ever something happens to me, there's a favor I need you to do for me. There's a letter in my drawer. I want you to give it to him."

Before he could even say something she got up and ran the other direction. The rustling gave her away and he saw the leader scream orders to follow and capture her. They all ran that way and fired everywhere in that direction. Steve felt like the most despicable guy on earth. He let a woman save his ass because he had been wounded. But all he could do now was to do what he was told and get the message back quickly to Major Montgomery. When they were far enough, he gingerly stood up with the tree's support and limped towards the camp.

Riza was running as fast as she could, but the wound on her shoulder was bleeding profusely and it was making it a difficult task. She was breathing heavily and gripping her shoulder tightly hoping to stop the flow of blood. She was feeling lightheaded and her vision was starting to blur. She was ahead of them, but could still hear them behind her. If she stopped they would surely catch up to her in no time. It had started raining and it was now a downpour. With this, she might have a chance to get away from them, she thought. But she stumbled on a tree root and fell to the floor. She got up with much effort and pain. _Shit, _she cursed under her breath, she decided to leave that path and go on the side. She made her way between thick branches and leaves. She couldn't see anything and didn't know where she was going. She was just trying to get as far away as possible. As she took another step, she fell forwards into a deep ditch.

She groaned and tried to get up, but fell back down with a grunt of pain. She had twisted her ankle and couldn't walk on it anymore. _Perfect, _she thought. She looked around, trying to see as much as she could. She sat in a puddle of water that went up to her waist. It was muddy underneath her. She estimated the ditch to be about ten feet deep. As she tried to climb up with one leg and one arm, she found it a bigger challenge than she thought it would be. The walls were all muddy from the rain and she could grab onto anything. It was too slippery. She slipped back down and laughed at herself. It was pathetic, dying in a muddy ditch where nobody could help you. She was freezing and slowly losing consciousness. _At least they won't find me here. They're going to be so frustrated, _she chuckled. Her last thoughts before her world became dark was how Roy would react when he knew.

...

Riza could hear voices talking in the distance. She felt a soft breeze of wind and heard birds singing. She slowly opened her eyes only to quickly shut them tight when the bright sun came into her eyes. It took her a few more tries to finally adjust to the light. She was lying down in a large bed with white sheets and cover. The decoration was like a princess's room. The walls were a plain light beige colour. She sat up but winced in pain when she felt her shoulder wound stretch. She took a moment to take in the pain before getting out of bed. Although her shoulder and ankle was still in great pain, she had to know where she was. If this was the enemy's base, which she highly doubted, then she needed to escape quickly. She limped towards the window and looked out cautiously, hiding behind the wall. It looked like a small peaceful town. There were children playing in the streets and people shopping for groceries.

She frowned in confusion and went towards the door. She listened to make sure no one was outside the door. She opened a crack and only went out when she saw it was clear. Her good arm instantly reached for her gun, but it wasn't there. She cursed, but decided to continue, at the end of the hallway, there was a big staircase, one on each side of the wall, making an arc. _Is this a rich person's house, _she thought, baffled by its splendour. She noticed a large portrait hanged high on the wall behind her and turned to look. Her eyes widened at the family portrait she saw. It was a family of five children. They all had light brown hair except for one of the children and the mother, who had golden blond hair. But what had frightened her was the man with blond hair; it was her father. She could recognize her own father anywhere, but she couldn't understand why he was here. _Is this my father's family?_ She was now more confused than ever. She looked around, not knowing what to do when she noticed a newspaper on one of the furniture. She walked to it, hoping to find out what date it was and what had happened to the war. When she saw it, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped a little. There weren't many things that could surprise or affect Hawkeye to this point, but this was one of them. On the cover page she read 'Fuhrer Roy Mustang ends the long Western War with a peace treaty'. She couldn't believe her eyes. She felt that only yesterday, they were in a full fledged war against the Iods, but apparently time had flown by when she was unconscious. _What happened while I was out? I need to get back, and quick. _But before she could do anything else, a girl at the bottom of the stairs yelled, "Grandpa! Come quickly! She's awake!" Suddenly she heard many footsteps coming towards the girl and in no time there was a small crowd gathered. An old man came forward, and looked up in disbelief with tears in his eyes.

Riza didn't know what to do. She had no clue who they were, but it seemed like they all knew her. The old man was slowly coming up the stairs, as if he thought she would disappear if he moved too fast. The man came closer to her, but she backed away. He stopped then smile.

"Riza," he said in a low voice, "my granddaughter."


	6. Chapter 6

Steve wasn't sure how long it took him to get back to camp. His leg was throbbing with pain every time he took a step, but he kept trying to go faster and faster. Hawkeye's life was in danger and the faster he could relay the message, the faster they could out send a search team for her. When he arrived, it was probably around midnight or early in the morning. Some officer on guard spotted him and ran towards him to help him walk. When the news had spread around about his arrival, the others from their team came to greet him. But their joy was quickly replaced by confused and worried looks.

"Where's the Captain, Steve?" asked Mike, dreading the bad news. They knew something was off the moment they saw Steve wounded and the missing Captain.

Steve looked down, refusing to meet their gaze. It was his fault for getting Hawkeye into this mess and he didn't know how he was going to tell the others about it. Hanz stepped forward, grabbed onto his collar and yanked him up.

"We asked you where the Captain was?" he asked in a low tone.

"She- She's out there somewhere. I got hurt so she decided to lure them away so I could come back here. She told me she'd come back here by herself later." Steve explained. However, his answer sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

Hanz let go of his collar and pushed him harshly. He cursed out loud and glared at Steve. The others were all looking at him in the same way.

"How could you leave her out there alone! She might already be dead by now!" yelled Jordan.

"I had no choice, I had to come back and report to the Major. If I would've stayed with her, then we both would've been dead by now. It was the only way to save you all!" Steve yelled back. He was angry at himself for not being able to do anything. He got up and limped hurriedly towards the Major's tent.

Major Montgomery was standing in front of his tent talking to some soldier when he noticed Steve approaching. He walked towards him, alert and anxious about the report.

"Sir, They're planning a surprise attack tomorrow night. They have soldiers positioned all around the area. They're most likely hidden in the forests. The offence from their main forces at the base is just a distraction from their real goal." Steve reported to him immediately.

Montgomery grunted in approval but frowned and asked in a low voice, "What happened to Hawkeye?"

At first, Steve's eyes avoided his, then he looked back up with determination and said, "They spotted us and opened fire. I got injured, so she lured them away to give me a chance to get back here to tell you their plan. She's out there right now. She said she would come back soon."

The Major wasn't very convinced she would come back on her own. There were many mission like this one that ended badly. A lot of people failed to return mostly because they had been captured or killed in action. But then again, we were talking about Riza Hawkeye. She was a very capable woman and shouldn't be underestimated. The major then said, "We'll wait until tomorrow to see if she'll come back. If not, I'll send in a search party." All Steve could do was nod. It was the wise thing to do in this situation. If Riza said she would come back, then they would have to wait and see if she would really return. They couldn't send others to go look for her if they weren't sure about the situation. Also, they couldn't afford to send out men in a search party now that they were shorthanded. All they could do now was wait.

Steve went to the medical tent to get his wound treated properly. After he got it stitched and bandaged, he limped his way back to their tents with the help of a crutch. He sat down beside the others around a fire and said nothing. No one was saying anything. They had all understood that nothing could be done at this point. Steve sat there the whole night waiting for her return, but she never did.

The next morning was very busy. At five in the morning, people were scurrying around, getting ready to head out. Major Montgomery had given out orders to head out into the forests and ambush the enemy before they had the chance to react. At the same time, he had told everyone to look for Hawkeye and bring her back in whatever state she was. The plan went well; the enemies were taken by surprise and were too slow to counter. They were able to capture a lot of people alive, but a lot of them still died in battle. The enemy had lost their only chance of winning. When night came, most of the soldiers had returned successfully and were celebrating. The enemies that were caught were tied up and confined in a large tent with high security. Steve, who was wounded, had waited all day for some news about Hawkeye. But there was none. The others on the teams that had went out also returned empty handed. However Steve still had hope she would return on her own and continued waiting.

The next day, reinforcements came in like the enemy had predicted. However, this time, Brigadier General Mustang had also come. His mere presence was daunting, as if the soldiers all knew they were standing in front of an incredible man. Roy was quite tall, well built and had, of course, impressive features. He had become quite a serious man after a month or so from the day Riza had left. It was hard to get him to smile a little, much less laugh. It was like Roy had lost the joy of living and was now only concentrating on his goal. Havoc, Breda, Falman and Fuery were not far behind. Where he went, his men followed. Roy was greeted by Major Montgomery. He saluted and Roy returned the salute.

"Welcome Brigadier General Mustang, it's an honor to have our hero out on the battlefield with us" said Montgomery.

"Thank you Major Montgomery," he answered.

The Major ushered him into his tent, while Havoc and the other waited outside and stood guard. When he entered, the Major offered him his chair at the desk, which he accepted.

Roy started the conversation by saying, "I heard you successfully terminated their surprise attack by being one step ahead Major. But now comes the main problem. They don't seem to be lowering their guard at all. We don't want another massacre, but they won't give in peacefully."

"Yes, sir, that's right. We've tried negotiating with them many times, but most of the time they had refused to meet us and would threaten us by firing in the air. The biggest obstacle is to get their ringleader out to talk. But they won't comply. We don't know what to do anymore. If this drags on too long, we might be forced to attack," explained Montgomery.

Roy was thinking deeply. What could they do in this situation? If things weren't done correctly, this conflict could turn out like the war in Ishbal. Roy wanted to avoid that conclusion at all cost. He had to prevented it from happening, because if he didn't, the military would forever have the reputation of ruthless murderers. Roy didn't want to see these soldiers kill other innocent men. The reason the Iods had united and formed this amateur army was their fault to begin with. It was because the people in Amestris were discontent with the way the military handled things that they became this way. It was their responsibilities to end what they started.

"I'm going to meet them personally." Roy said after a long period of silence.

Montgomery snapped his head towards him. "Sir, have you gone mad? They're going to kill you!" he desperately tried to make him change his mind. But Roy was a man that never went back on his words.

"No, I have to. It's a sign of respect and trust that they can not refuse. Their leader will come out." Roy said persistently.

Without wasting time, he left the tent and prepared to sortie. Roy had only allowed his direct subordinates and a driver to follow him and take them to the enemy's base. Montgomery was trailing after him, inexorably trying to prevent him from going out. It was only when Roy got angry and glared at him that he backed down, afraid of angering him any further. It didn't take long before they drove into the enemy's territory. They were stopped by a group of armed men, aiming their gun at them, ready to shoot if they did anything suspicious. But it was unusual for the enemy to come strait to them out in the open, so they hadn't open fire at the oddity. Roy raised his arms up in the air showing he was not armed, stood up and said in a loud and clear voice, "I am Brigadier General Roy Mustang. I wish to have a talk with your leader."

The enemies stared at him and observed with utmost attention. They wanted to make sure this was not some scam and he was not an imposter claiming to be the Flame Alchemist. But Roy was wearing his uniform and medals, which allowed them to believe in his words. He saw one of them whisper in another one's ear before that one briskly walked away. While they waited, nobody moved and stayed in the position they were in. Havoc and the others were worried about Roy's safety. They were afraid the enemy would refuse their request and shoot them. They were trapped rats in there and if anything went wrong, they were a pretty much screwed.

Roy took in his surroundings. There were old buildings on the sides, in which he saw many snipers aiming at his head from various windows. There was dust blowing everywhere, especially on the dirt roads. Directly in front of them were large doors, very solid and heavily guarded. These doors were clearly the entrance to their base and where their leader was. The men in front were still ready to shoot at any moment. They were tense and perceptive of any movement. It was then that those large doors opened and a older man came out. He stood in front of them and crossed his arms. Roy got out of the car and motioned for the others to stay in, which they did reluctantly. The other man signalled for all of his men to lower their weapons.

Roy had guessed right. Their leader was a man with dignity and respect. If Roy showed up to him armless, then he would do the same. When Roy was close enough, the man unfolded his arms and looked at him with a stern face.

"So you're Brigadier General Mustang. I suppose you're the leader in charge of the military's forces. I'm Andrew Fisher, leader of the Iods." Andrew started.

"I'm glad you gave me this opportunity to meet with you Mr Fisher. I wanted to come here to talk to you about an agreement to end this conflict. This war has been long and hard for all of us, including the citizens. We've each had many losses and wounded soldiers. If we can't come to an agreement then this war will only continue until one of us is wiped out." Roy said, keeping a calm display.

Andrew glared at him and said harshly, "Well, we want to put an end to this too. But even if we did, it wouldn't change a damn thing in the military. All our efforts and losses would have been in vain. We fought, hoping for a better future for our children, but you guys don't do a damn thing to try to understand us. The government and military are corrupted and are not giving its citizens the right and justice we deserve."

Roy was keeping his own rising anger under control. He wasn't angry at Andrew's outburst, but of their own mistakes. How could the military had let such a thing happen? Roy looked at him strait in the eyes and said with conviction, "It's true that our government and military have done much wrong in the past to our people, but not everyone is corrupted by power and greed. Some of us are also trying to change it from the inside. Although I understand where you are coming from, I do not believe violence is the solution to our problems. There are too many casualties and terror, which only feeds the feelings of hatred, anger, grief and grudge. Your hate and anger will pass on to your children and in the future, all of our children will inherit this world that we put to ruins. We can't let our children face the same mistakes we did."

After Roy's speech, Andrew seemed to calm down a little and was staring at him intently. Roy's words had hit him brutally. He knew Roy was right. Violence was never the answer to their problems. He had even taught his children that lesson, and now he was doing the very opposite.

"Are you trying to make a change Mustang? Do you seek a better world?" Andrew asked.

"I've done many foolish mistakes in the past that I wholeheartedly regret and I plan to change the whole system from within. It's my way of giving back to the people what I took from them," he answered. Andrew looked at him in the eye and saw an unwavering determination. This man was not telling lies.

Andrew smiled and said, "I'm glad we have someone like you who shares the same objectives as we do." And that was the end of the war.

Roy Mustang had once again gained the title of hero. But this time, he did something he could be proud of. The leader had surrendered peacefully, but had no choice but to go to jail. After all, he was the ringleader of a group of revolutionaries. The military's victory was widely publicized. The media was everywhere trying to get a shot of the great hero. However, other than promoting the military's humane victory, it has also unfolded the blind around the people's eyes and made them see the truth about the corruption in their country. Countless civilians marched in the streets in front of each military headquarters, whether it be in the East, West, South, North, and especially in Central. The manifestations were getting out of control and the higher ups had to do something to appease the crowd quickly.

Roy was waiting outside a meeting room where all the generals had gathered. The topic of discussion was the appointment of a new Fuhrer. When Roy was called into the room, he was told that he had been elected the new Fuhrer. This decision was mostly based on the civilians' opinion. After learning about the Iods' unfulfilled wishes, there was a rumour circulating, saying that only the great hero could help them change for the better. Roy believed it had spread from some of the members of the Iods that had managed to escape. Otherwise, there was no one who could have known about his goal. Pressure on the higher ups was intense and they all held an emergency meeting to come up with a solution. What they thought they could do was use Mustang as their puppet to calm down the citizens. When everything would be solved, they thought they could still continue in the same way they always did. However, his election would prove to be their biggest mistake.

After Roy Mustang's inauguration, many generals were arrested for embezzlement of military funds and political corruption. The truth was, Roy had long planned everything. If he could get the whole nation's vote, then he had predicted the whole outcome. For the past few months, he had his men collect all the evidence he needed to take them down.

It has been about a week he had become Fuhrer and Roy was wondering why Riza hadn't contacted him yet. His election was publicized throughout the whole country and it would have been impossible for her not to know about it. It saddened him that he still hadn't received any news from her. His week had been very exhausting and busy. He didn't have much time to himself because many problems had to be solved. His daily schedule was always packed from early morning to late in the afternoon. On one of his rare breaks, he was sitting behind his new desk in his large office when he heard a knock at the door. He gave the person permission to enter.

The man saluted and handed him a large file. "Fuhrer, sir. I've been told to deliver this file to you. It's a full report of the Western War, sir." Roy thanked him and he saluted again before leaving. After such a long battle, he wanted to know for himself what the consequences were. He looked through the file and saw how other villages and towns on the outskirts have been affected. There was also a report on all the military's lost and wounded soldiers. He sighed heavily and scanned through the names. He recognized some of them and it pained him to know they had passed away. His eyes were skimming through the list, but stopped as he recognized a name. He read 'Captain Riza Hawkeye', then a little further it said 'Missing In Action'.

Roy could not understand what he was reading. There must have been a mistake. First of all, Riza did not partake in this war. Second of all, she was away visiting her family. And last but not least, she was not a Captain. Roy's eyes were glued on the paper reading the same line over and over again. Everything he knew about the situation was being processed in his brain, trying to organize themselves to make this line understandable. But nothing seemed to fit in. _What the hell is going on? Why is her name in here!_ He was furious, knowing that someone had made such a mistake. Even if it could have been a typing error or some other kind of error, it was wrong to put someone else's name in a list of dead or missing soldiers. He had to find out what had happened immediately.

He got up and headed for the door. His assistants who were waiting outside his office were startled by his cold look and fumbled to ask where he was going. Roy wasn't hearing anything anymore. His mind was too worked up to pay them any attention. He continued walking briskly and soon arrived at General Hall's office. He entered without notice and stood in front of his desk. The General, confused about the Fuhrer's sudden visit, snapped into a salute. He could tell Roy was in a very bad mood and he didn't dare to say anything but waited for him to start. Roy threw the file on his desk and asked, "What's the meaning of this General. There's a mistake in there. I expected you to do a better job when you do a report of this sort."

"I- I'm sure there were no mistakes Fuhrer Mustang. I checked it myself many times and all the information was accurate." Hall nervously said.

"Then why does it say that Riza Hawkeye has gone missing in action. From what I know, she wasn't even in the war, but away with her family."

The General's eyes widened in realization. Had Hawkeye lied to the Fuhrer? But it was impossible because he had signed her release form.

"Sir, she was in the war. You were the one who allowed her to go and signed her form." Hall started saying.

"What form?" Roy interrupted him. He was really starting to get pissed off. Something was terribly wrong and he didn't know what was going on. The General opened a drawer and was looking through it for a copy of the form she had given him. When he found it, he gave it to Roy and backed away to the side. As Roy was reading this, his hands were shaking and gripping the paper. In his hands was a release and recruitment paper he had apparently signed. But he never remembered even seeing this form. Then it hit him; it was during all those times he had signed his paperwork before even taking a peek at them, knowing Hawkeye was going to do it for him. _I'm so stupid, _he thought. The General had explained to him how she had come, almost pleading him to draft her instead of Roy.

After he had found out the whole truth from the General, he quickly walked back to his office and fell into his chair. He didn't pay any attention to all the people who crossed him and tried to speak to him. What he was feeling now was too intense to put it into words. His knees felt week and his heart was rapidly beating. _How could I let this happen? _He felt the corner of his eyes prickle and soon tears were rolling down his cheeks. Suddenly, he pounded his fists on his desk and screamed out in lament. All this time he had believed she was somewhere safe and would eventually come back. He could have prevented everything from happening but he wasn't paying enough attention to other people, only to his own goal. He trusted her words in the letter and didn't even doubt it a little. Now that he gave it a second thought, it did seem kind of strange of her to leave on such short notice. It wasn't like her at all. How could he not have notice such a simple thing? And now she was missing. He didn't even know what had happened; she might even be dead by now. It was rare that a person MIA would come back.

He laid back in his chair and took deep breaths. His clenching heart and grief was exhausting him. He didn't feel like doing anything anymore. He just wanted to sleep and hopefully wake up to realize it was all a dream. But he laughed bitterly to himself and knew this was reality. Because of his foolishness, he had lost the most precious person in his life. For the rest of the day he didn't move an inch and refused to see anybody.

Havoc and the others were also devastated when they found out about it. They didn't dare imagine how the Fuhrer was feeling. They knew it was much harder for him to take it in. They had tried talking to him but to no avail. He didn't respond to anyone and didn't seem to care. He was just staring into space. Havoc couldn't stand seeing him this way. His dream had finally come true but he was wasting away like this because of Hawkeye's disappearance.

The third day in that state, Havoc walked up to him and grabbed his collar, pulling him up to his face. He furiously said to him, "Chief, you don't have the time to mourn over this. You've just been elected Fuhrer and you don't have the right to act this way now. Our nation and its people need you right now. We need you. She's missing, not dead. If she's still alive out there somewhere, she'll come back." He looked at Roy in the eyes. It was lifeless and full of misery. "She wouldn't want you to be like this. She-"

"Shut up Havoc," Roy interrupted him. His eyes were venomous and his stare was cold and ruthless. Havoc had never seen him like this. "How do you know that. How do you know she wouldn't want me to grieve. She's not here anymore is she. We won't ever know. And it's all my fault. I made her disappear."

Havoc couldn't take it anymore. He screamed in frustration and punched Roy. "You and I both know she chose to go out there for your sake. Her wish was to see you become Fuhrer, you know that. If she saw you like this, how do you think she'd feel? Don't let her death bring you down, she wouldn't want you to be like this." He and the others were desperate to save him from his anguish. They had to do it for Hawkeye's sake, because they understood her motive. They would have done the same thing for Roy if they knew about it.

The next day, Roy walked into his office early in the morning like nothing happened. He stopped in front of Havoc's desk and said, "I'll forgive you this time for hitting the Fuhrer. You know you could've been easily arrested for that."

Havoc smirked and answered back, "Sorry sir, it won't happen again. We're glad to have you back."

On the surface, the Fuhrer appeared to be back to normal, but they could all see how his face was devoid of any emotions. Those who knew him well could tell he was a changed man. He kept all his emotions bottled up inside and refused to open up to anyone. In a way Havoc was glad he came back to fulfill his duty as Fuhrer and honor Hawkeye's death, but on the other hand, he was sad to see how broken his friend had become.

Roy had gone back to his old habits outside of work. Every week he had a new date. He went out to drink often and flirted like there was no end to it. But he never got serious with any of the girls. They were only for entertainment purposes. He never really talked about any of the girls he dated with the men anymore. There were just so many, he didn't bother to remember them all.

However, at work he was a serious man. No one had ever seen him smile, just nod in approval. The soldiers were not exactly afraid, but just wary of him because his presence was intimidating and admirable. Roy was, after all, a hero that changed their lives for the better. He wasn't someone you could just walk up to and casually start a conversation.

A month or so after his inauguration, Roy received a guest in his office. He saluted the Fuhrer and said, "I am Lieutenant Sergeant Steve Orser, sir. I have just been transferred here from the West."

"Were you a soldier in the war Orser?" asked Roy.

"Yes, sir. Actually I am here to deliver something to you, sir." He gave a small package to Roy and continued, "It was the late Captain Hawkeye's last request. I was told to give this to you if something was to happen to her." Roy saw how hard he was trying to keep him emotions in check. When he was talking, his voice would shake sometimes. Seeing that the Fuhrer wasn't saying anything and wasn't planning to, he excused himself and left.

When Roy was left alone, he looked at the package in his hands. His name was written on it in a nice cursive handwriting. Roy could recognize Riza's handwriting anywhere. It had always been neat and pretty. His heart was pounding as he started opening it. All this time he had been trying to forget about his pain, when suddenly, he gets more news from her. He took out a small notebook. As he opened it, he realized it was her journal. She had once told him that she had kept a journal during the Ishbal war. He smiled to himself a bit as he remembered the good times with her.

Each entry was short and direct. She didn't write everyday, but it was enough to understand what was happening out there.

_May 18th, 1914_

_It's hot and dirty out here. A soldier named Steve Orser tried to beat me in a sharpshooting contest, but obviously he didn't. He has a bad attitude that needs fixing._

_May 20th, 1914_

_The nights are cold, just like in Ishbal. I was forced to join the female soldiers' club. They're all very nice and friendly. Rachel is just like Rebecca. I'm glad I have someone like her to talk to. Training went well. They're better than I expected._

_May 24th, 1914_

_We are heading out to the front. They're all scared. They're too young and inexperienced. I have to do all I can to protect them. They shouldn't have blood on their hands like me._

By reading Riza's journal, Roy found out many things he never knew about her. He lived through her thoughts and feelings. He was surprised to see many different sides of her that he never knew. Sometimes he would laugh at her humour, but most of the time he regretted not being there for her when she was having a hard time.

_June 23rd, 1914_

_I'm so happy to hear about the Colonel's promotion. I wish I could've been there to congratulate him. I'm sure him and the boys will go out to celebrate. I hope they don't drink too much._

Roy chuckled to himself after reading this entry. He knew she was always thinking about their well being, but he didn't expect her to continue worrying about them when she was out on the battlefield. She should've worried more about herself than them. As much as it pained him to read the journal, it was the only connection with her he had left. When he read it, he felt like she was talking to him, which made him forget about the present.

After he read the last entry, he paused there. It was right before she went out for her mission. She was afraid and worried. For once, Riza had expressed her fear and suffering she had kept inside her all along. She was afraid of not being able to come back to him.

Roy had tears rolling down his cheeks. She had only written till the middle of the notebook. There were still many pages left and he skimmed through them absentmindedly, hoping to find another trace of her. He stopped when he spotted something on the last page. It was a message written to him.

_Dear Roy Mustang,_

_If you have received this journal then it means I've probably passed away already. I'm sorry I could not keep my promises to you. I won't be returning to the office and I can no longer watch your back anymore. I hope you can forgive me. Please find someone you trust to take my place._

_Don't fool around anymore. You have to get serious and work hard to become the Fuhrer. I know you will become a great Fuhrer. Change this country for the better. Don't blame yourself for my death. I chose this on my own free will. I'm happy to know that I died protecting you and your dream._

_There is another thing that I've always wanted to tell you, but never had the courage to say it. I love you. I've been in love with you for a long time. Please do not be burdened by this. I already know you don't have feelings for me. That's why I could only bring myself to say it after I was gone. This way, I won't ever know your answer. I'm a coward, aren't I?_

_It's been a pleasure working with you all this time Roy. I'm glad I was able to meet a great person like you._

_P.S. I'm sorry I couldn't come back to get Hayate and pay you back for everything. Please take care of him for me._

_I wish you a long and happy life._

_Sincerely,_

_Your lieutenant, Riza Hawkeye_

At the end of the letter, Roy was crying and loud sobs were escaping his mouth. He couldn't control his emotions anymore. He was finally letting everything out.

Why had he only found out about her feelings after she was dead. Why couldn't he have seen it before? Now that he thought about it, it was obvious she was in love with him. She devoted her whole self to him and did everything for him. It was his fear of rejection and of a broken ego that made him turn a blind eye to her. There were so many hints and events that clearly showed her love for him, but he simply disregarded them, not wanting to hope too much.

But everything was too late now.


	7. Chapter 7

Riza couldn't believe what she was hearing. This crazy old man was calling her his granddaughter.

"I'm very sorry to disappoint you mister, but I think you've got the wrong person." That was the only reasonable solution she could think of. The portrait with the young man that resembled her father could have easily been someone else. It had been a long time since she's seen a picture of her father after all. It wouldn't be surprising if she had mistaken that man as her father.

"Your name is Riza Hawkeye, am I correct?" the old man cautiously asked, trying not to scare her any more than this.

Right then she froze. How could he have known her name. She glared at him. Maybe she had been caught by the enemy and this was one of their tricks. Her so-called grandfather took another step towards her, and she quickly took a step back, ready to kick him if ever he decided to attack her. However, as her foot landed behind her, her ankle gave way and she fell hard on the floor. Pain shot through her body from her ankle and her shoulder. She grunted as she tried to get up on her feet, but couldn't because of her blurry vision. She was nowhere near full recovery, so her actions have had a great toll on her body. She was injured and weak, and her body couldn't handle all the stress. She laid there as her consciousness faded away. The last thing she saw was the worried look of the old man, rushing towards her.

The next time she woke up, it was almost night time. The setting sun gave the sky a nice orange and pink hue. She was exhausted and her mind was groggy.

"Hey, are you alright?" said a man that was sitting by her bed on her left side. He was an older looking man, around his late forties. He had light brown hair and a kind smile. She did her best to nod and he was satisfied with her answer.

"Sorry about what happened earlier. You must have been quite frightened. It's just that my father has been looking for his granddaughter for a very long time and he was too anxious to talk to you. I've told everyone to give you time and space, so you don't need to worry. By the way, my name is Harold Hawkeye." He looked at her to see if she wanted to say anything, but she was just listening quietly, so he continued. "We were five brothers in my family, but my older brother was kicked out of the house a long time ago. We heard he got married and had a child. It was a girl. Even though my father refused to admit it, we all knew he was worried about him and missed him a lot. My brother had once sent him a letter with a picture of his family, telling my father how he was doing, but my father didn't write back. After that, my brother never wrote another letter. It was only years later that we found out about my brother's death. But it had already been a year since he had passed away. We later found out that his wife had died many years before him. As soon as my father heard about this, he went to go see his son's house, hoping his granddaughter was still there, but it was too late. Nobody in town knew where she went and the house was left uninhabited. He tries to keep this a secret, but every year he goes to visit my brother's grave, hoping to meet his granddaughter, but she never comes. He's been living in guilt ever since he found out about my brother's death and is desperate to find his lost granddaughter. My brother's name was Richard Hawkeye and his daughter's name was Riza Hawkeye."

In the middle of the story, Riza had turned her head towards the window. She didn't want him to see the surprised look on her face. At the end of his story, she had tears rolling down her eyes. The kind man sitting by her side was her uncle. She never would have thought that she still had family somewhere. To her, her father never had a family and she just never thought about the possibility that he might have had one before. To think that she had a grandfather that has been looking for her all this time.

The man didn't say anything. He watched her cry in silence and waited until she had calmed down. She wiped her eyes with her good arm and turned towards the man. He was still smiling, but Riza didn't know what to say. Seeing that she was hesitating, Harold took the initiative and said, "From your reaction, I suppose you're Riza Hawkeye. I'm so happy to finally meet you. I'm your uncle, the second oldest son in the family. There's many more of us in this house, but I'm going to let you meet them all gradually. I'm sure you must be very tired right now, but you need to eat something so your body has enough strength to heal properly. I'm going to head down and get you something to eat. I'll be right back." He got up and left, closing the door behind him.

Riza couldn't say anything, for she was too embarrassed because he had seen her cry like that. Riza Hawkeye was a tough woman who didn't let anybody see her weaknesses; but there she was, crying like a baby after hearing a story. When she was left alone, she could hear many people outside the door, whispering, talking, and some of them screaming. They were all asking about her. She smiled a little as she laid down in her bed. It's been a long time since anyone had cared for her like a parent. She couldn't remember her mother, and her father wasn't very much a father figure for her. All of this was new to her. When she thought about it, she didn't know how to react to this. She didn't know what to do. She's never had a family like this before, so she felt a little intimidated.

Before she had more time to think about anything else, Harold knocked before entering with a tray. He had brought a chicken broth soup for her and told her she had to finish it all. He helped her sit up on the bed and put the tray on her thighs. As she was drinking her soup, he told her, "Everyone's eager to meet you, but I told them to leave you alone until you're ready to meet them. I know it must be hard for you to accept all of this so suddenly, so take your time to get used to things. We've been waiting for you to wake up for three weeks now. The village doctor said that you had a fifty fifty chance of waking up, if not you'd most probably be in a coma."

As Harold said that, Riza choked on her soup and was coughing on the side. Alarmed, Harold gently started rubbing her back to ease her coughing.

"Easy now, you must be really hungry, but you have to eat slowly." He told her.

"No, no it's not that. Did you say I was unconscious for three weeks?" Riza asked when finally able to. He nodded. She couldn't believe she'd been out cold for that long. What happened after she fell into that ditch? How did she end up here? Did the war end yet? She couldn't understand anything. She needed to get back to HQ and see what had happened after all this time. She needed to know if her team was still safe. She attempted to get up only to be stopped by her uncle.

"Where do you think you're going in this condition?"

"I have to go. I have important things to take care of." She tried to get up again, but he wouldn't let her.

"Stop it. If you leave now, you'll only put yourself in danger. You need lots of rest. If you need to know something, then ask me. I'll do my best to answer your questions."

Riza, seeing that it was an useless effort to try and get passed him, sat back in bed.

"How did I get here?" she asked him.

Harold sighed and said, "I go hunting with my son and my nephew sometimes. We hunt near a mountain out west. When we were hunting, our dog kept barking, telling us to come. We found you in a deep ditch, bleeding and covered in mud. We thought you were dead but when I climbed down and checked, you were still breathing. That's when we brought you back to out village since it's the closest place we knew that had a doctor. They said you were almost half dead when we brought you in. It's a miracle you even survived. I don't really know how long you've been stuck there, but the doctor estimated around two or three days. How did you end up that way anyways?"

Riza was still shocked about everything. She was lucky someone had found her, if not she would have been dead right now. But they didn't know she was in the military. From what she remembered, she had dropped her gun somewhere before falling into the ditch. _But I must have had my military dog tags. If not, then it fell off somewhere too. _She was afraid of telling her uncle about her past. She didn't want him to judge her or anything, so she decided not to tell him or anyone about her military career.

"Sorry, I don't really remember." She said after a while.

"Really? You can't remember anything that happened?" he asked her with a surprised look. She shook her head and saw him give her a concerned look. She felt bad about lying, but she was afraid they would hate her and make her leave if they knew she had killed many people.

For the next five days, she had been in bed rest sleeping most of the day. Harold had taken the responsibility of taking care of her. Riza had also met his wife, Karen, Who had helped her change her bandages. Riza knew she had seen her back and her tattoo, but Karen had never mentioned anything about it, which Riza appreciated a lot. At the end of the week, her sprained ankle had healed enough for her to start walking again. She was tired of being in bed and grew restless. Most of the time she would walk to the window and look outside.

One night, when she had woken up and was laying in bed, she decided she was ready to leave her room and go meet the others. She knew it was their supper time and they were most likely all eating together at the table. She quietly exited her room and walked down the same hall she had walked down a week ago. She saw the portrait again, but this time she recognized her uncle Harold, who was smiling and standing beside her father. She took careful steps down the stairs, marvelled by its beauty. When she reached the ground floor, she stood there, not knowing where to go. She was nervous to be standing in the middle of the large room, so she made her way to the wall, hiding herself beside a tall furniture. She couldn't help but use her sniper skills. It had become a habit of hers to stay in the shadows and avoid being seen.

She stood there, debating where she should go. The house was huge and she didn't want to wander off somewhere and get lost. Right then, she heard people talking and laughing. She followed the direction of the noises, hoping to find her uncle. As she got closer, she saw a large room, lighted with beautiful chandeliers and candles. They were sitting around a long table, chattering away. She walked closer, hid behind the doorway and observed. She spotted Harold and his wife sitting at one end of the table. There were too many people and children, she didn't know who was who. She tried to look for her other uncles, matching them with the ones in the portrait she saw earlier. They were quite easy to spot, since they all had light brown hair and resembled, more or less, each other. At the head of the table, she saw the old man that had walked up to her the first time. It was her grandfather. He didn't talk much, just seemed to listen. He had a serious face and didn't look very talkative.

Riza stood against the wall, debated whether she should go in or not. She was afraid of interrupting their supper. What if they thought she was rude. Riza wasn't the type of girl that was afraid of getting judged by other people, because she didn't care what others thought, but this time it was different. This was her family and she wanted to make a good impression on them. As much as she was embarrassed to admit, she was happy to know she had a family that cared about her and wanted to experience living with them. She had never lived with anyone who had given her affection before. The truth was, Riza didn't know how to behave around them. They were so lively and unlike her. She didn't think she'd fit in. She peaked at them again, but this time she notice a little girl staring strait at her. She couldn't have been more than four years old. Riza stared back at her. The girl didn't say anything, but tugged on her mother's sleeve beside her and pointed towards the door. When her mother looked up, she saw Riza and announced her presence excitedly to the others. Riza, surprised and suddenly very nervous, froze in place, with only her head visible to the others. All talks had stopped and everyone had turned their heads towards her. Her grandfather's eyes lit up in anticipation. They were all expecting her to do or say something but she couldn't. Harold was the first to break the silence. He got up and walked towards her, gently ushering her into the room.

"I didn't know you were awake Riza, if not I would have invited you. Come and join us."

He pulled out a chair beside himself and her grandfather. She was sitting at the end of the table, on her grandfather's right. When she sat down, Harold presented her to everyone.

"This is Riza Hawkeye everyone. She's older brother Richard's only daughter." Then he looked at her and said, "You're the oldest among all our children too." He smiled at her.

She looked around timidly and couldn't help shrinking a bit with all their gazes on her. Most of them were smiling, some kids were giggling and she noticed a teenage girl scowling at her. She looked down, not knowing what to do. Just then her grandfather said, "Are you hungry, my dear? I'll get you anything you want to eat."

"No, sir. I'm alright. Thank you for the offer." Riza replied. But it seemed like he didn't hear her because he had already ordered a maid to bring her a serving.

"That's nonsense. Look how skinny you are, you have to eat to get your strength back." He told her. It was true she had lost a lot of weight since the war and especially during the three weeks she was unconscious.

No one was saying anything while they continued eating. They were all trying to look at her and they were whispering to themselves. She felt like the black sheep at the table. What stood out the most about her was the colour of her hair. Everyone had brown or light brown hair, but hers was a golden blond. She noticed how her grandfather was itching to ask her something but couldn't speak up. He was restless and kept moving around in his chair. As a matter of fact, they were all impatiently waiting for something to happen. Finally, her grandfather decided to ask her a question.

"Riza, would you tell me a little about your life and what you've been up to lately?"

The truth was, her grandfather wasn't a talkative man and he was afraid of scaring his granddaughter again like the other time. He didn't really know how to start a conversation, but he wanted to get to know his granddaughter. To relieve the awkwardness, she answered, "I grew up in a town called Lakefield. My mother passed away when I was five, so I had to take care of the house chores, groceries and cooking, since my father was busy with his research. I attended the local public school until I was sixteen. When my father passed away, I moved to central and continued my studies there. I studied in literature and philosophy. I worked at the central library." She didn't know if they would believe her. It was hard to believe that anyone would want to kill a librarian.

Her grandfather was frowning, listening to what she was saying. Suddenly, someone said aloud, "Why the hell would a librarian from central end up in the state you were in out in the west?" It was the teenage girl that had been scowling at her earlier. Riza got the feeling the girl didn't like her very much.

"Don't say that Amy! Apologize to her now. " a woman beside her scolded her.

"But mom, it's true. It doesn't-" Amy retorted, only to be interrupted by her grandfather's grunt and disapproving look.

"I'm sorry," she said unwillingly.

"It's alright. I know it's hard to believe, but I can't explain how I got to that situation either. I don't remember what happened," Riza said.

The rest of the supper went well. They asked her all sorts of questions, like 'Are you married yet?', 'Do you have a boyfriend?', 'Do you have anyone you'd like to contact?'. The kids also asked her questions like 'What's your favorite toy?', 'Do you have a pet?' and 'What's your favorite colour?'.

She had many cousins, all of which were younger than her. The oldest one was Harold's son, Mathew, who was twenty. He had a younger sister, Natalie, who was fourteen. They were very friendly and kind like their father. Next were the children of her uncle Douglas. He was the middle one of the five brothers. He had three children; Amelia, who was fifteen, Rob, who was fourteen, and Michael, who was nine. Riza's uncle Bob, the second youngest brother, also had three children. The first one was Amy, who was seventeen, and her two younger twin brother, Max and Ryan, who were eleven. And last but not least, the youngest of the five brothers, her uncle Arnold, who only had one daughter, Cecilia, who was four. Riza has always had a good memory, so it was easy for her to remember all of them. They were quite unique in their own way.

After supper, she had offered to help clean up, only to be awarded with smiles and laughter. They already had maids to do all that. None of them had to do anything. They could tell Riza wasn't used to this kind of lifestyle. Her grandfather brought her to his office and offered her a cup of tea.

"I'd like to apologize for my behavior the first time we met. I was too excited to see you awake that I didn't think about your point of view. I must have frightened you." He started.

"No, not at all. I was just a little confused at first, that's all." Riza answered, waving her hand in front of her. There was a moment of silence before her grandfather said, "You said you were the one taking care of the house after your mother had passed away. Was my son that useless of a father?"

"No, he wasn't always like that. I still remember him when he was still a caring and good father to me. But after my mother passed away, he changed. At first, he tried to take care of me, but grief took over him and the only thing he found comfort in was his research. He buried himself in it and I tried taking care of him, but he grew ill and passed away."

"Are you angry at your father?"

"I don't know. I don't really think about it. For me, I always thought it was normal, so I don't think I hated him. He was the only family I had left. I couldn't bring myself to hate him." Riza told him. She wasn't the type of person to speak of her emotions and feelings, but this time she felt relief to finally be able to talk to someone who knew about her father. Her grandfather looked at her with a sad face.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that because of my son. I'm sorry I couldn't be there when you needed someone."

"No, it's alright. Everything turned out fine, right. It's nobody's fault. Please don't blame my father nor yourself, sir." She gave him a small smile.

"Please don't call me sir, Riza. I feel like I'm a stranger to you. Call me grandpa." He told her and smiled.

"Yes, grandfather." He laughed out loud and she blushed a little from embarrassment. She wasn't used to familiar speech like that. She couldn't bring herself to call him 'grandpa', it was too unlike her. She was used to strict formalities used in the military.

Her grandfather looked at her with loving eyes. He had just met her, but he loved her so much already. _You have such a beautiful, smart and well-mannered daughter Richard, _he thought. Her demeanor had surprised him quite a bit. Not many people these days were respectful and dignified like she was. He was used to his current grandchildren, who were loud, rebellious and lazy. He felt pride rise in his chest, thinking that his oldest son had such a great daughter. Soon, tears were forming in his eyes and he quickly wiped them away. But nothing escaped Riza's eyes, and she looked at him worriedly.

"Are you alright grandfather?" she asked.

"Yes," he smiled and put his hand against her cheek, "I'm so happy to finally meet you. I've been looking for you for so many years, I was afraid I'd die without ever meeting you." Then he continued, "You have your father's hair. The beautiful golden colour that your grandmother used to have. I was delighted to see that you had inherited it, because out of the five boys I had, it was only your father who had that hair colour. You know, when I first met your grandmother, it was that hair of hers that made me attracted to her. From then on we fell in love."

Riza smiled and chuckled a little. How typical of old people. They just loved talking about their past love life. Riza felt the happiness in her chest. She never knew that having a caring family would have such an effect on her, for she had never experienced it before.

When she came out of the room, her younger cousins were waiting for her in front of the door. Max grabbed her right hand and Ryan grabbed her pants on the other side, since her left arm was still in a sling. Michael pushed her behind, telling her to go faster. The twins and the kids wanted to show her their playroom. Cecilia was holding her doll and following them quietly behind. When they got to a large room, full of toys and gadgets, they let go of her and went to fetch their favorite and coolest toys to show her. On the far right side of the room, there were tables, couches and a lot of books. The teens were all gathered there, but as they saw what was happening, they rushed towards her, telling the kids to back off.

"Sorry about them. They get really excited when new people come here. Once they get to know you, they'll calm down and they're really nice," said Amelia.

"Don't worry about it. They're kids," Riza replied. The other two teens, Rob and Natalie were pushing the younger ones away, telling them to leave her alone and to go play with their toys.

At that moment, Mathew walked in, stood beside Riza and said, "I see you've met all the cousins. They're a noisy bunch, but you'll get used to it soon." He reminded Riza of his father Harold. He was kind, welcoming and always had a bright smile on.

"Would you like a tour of the house? It's pretty big and it's easy to get lost in it. It's not that late yet, so we have the time before we go to bed."

Riza followed Mathew out of the playroom. As they turned the corner, Amy saw them and walked towards them. She eyed Riza, looking at her, up and down. When she was done, she looked away mockingly and asked Mathew, "What are you guys doing?"

"Don't give her that look Amy, it's rude. I'm giving her a tour of the house."

"What, you think she can just come in here and be part of the family? She's not staying here for long, she lives in central and she's going to leave soon," then she turned and looked at Riza in the eye. She got as close as she could to her and tried to intimidate her, but Riza had her mask on and didn't show any emotions on her face.

Not getting the reaction she wanted, Amy then said, "Who do you think you are? Your father was kicked out of this house, so you're not welcome here either. Don't expect to be accepted into our family like this just because grandpa has accepted you already. I won't accept it." She huffed and walked away.

Before anyone could say anything, the twins came up behind them and told Riza, "Don't listen to our crazy sister. She's just jealous of you because grandpa likes you. Before you came, sis was grandpa's favorite, that's what she thought anyways. When she saw grandpa only looking at you, she got angry. She's a pain in the butt who only wants attention. Don't take her seriously." Surprisingly, the twins had their mature moments too. They patted her on the back to comfort her before running off somewhere.

Mathew laughed and said, "those two are quite something aren't they. But it's true about what they said. Amy's always been like that. She's always cranky, so don't worry about it. Everyone's happy to welcome you and you can stay as long as you'd like. You already have your own room and I'm sure grandpa's planning to have you stay here forever too."

When they toured the house, she couldn't help but be amazed by everything. The house was almost a mansion. There were fifteen bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a big kitchen where all the staff prepared their meals, the playroom, a library, some offices and many more. But she was most surprised to find a shooting range. It was nowhere near the size of the one in central HQ, but it was big enough for a private one.

"The men in the Hawkeye family love to hunt. Like our name, we have good eyesight. Although it doesn't mean we aim well." Mathew laughed sheepishly. "I'm alright, but the best among us is my father. There's some local competitions every year and he often wins. Competitors from other towns and villages gather for the competitions. I'll bring you to the next one, it's not too far from now."

As they continued walking around, Riza tried asking him, "I remember there was a war in the west going on. Do you know what happened to it?"

"Oh, the Western War? It ended about three days after we had found you. The flame alchemist, Roy Mustang, made them surrender peacefully somehow and soon after that he was elected Fuhrer. He's the hero of the war and since then, he's changed many things in our country. He even arrested all the higher ups in the military who were corrupted and he started to rebuild our whole system. He's the best! I just heard he started another project. He's helping the villages and towns around the ares of the Western War to rebuild themselves and restore the economy." realizing he was going on and on, he stopped and said with a grin, "sorry, it's just that I'm a really big fan of him and I want to be like him one day. I want to do something for our people."

Riza smiled and said, "It's alright. Thanks for telling me about it. If you truly want to change something you have to go and do it. The strength of one person can make a big difference." Mathew blushed and looked away. It was the first time someone had encouraged him about his dream. Each time he told someone about this dream, they would make fun of him or take him lightly. He was happy someone believed in him.

Riza couldn't stop thinking about Roy. She wanted to see him and congratulate him. She couldn't explain how proud she felt on the inside. His dream had finally come true. She had succeeded in protecting him until he became Fuhrer.

When the night came, she retreated to her room. Before going in, she had taken the newspaper she had seen on the first day in with her. She sat on her bed and read the article. They were explaining his current and future projects. She saw that Roy had really kept his word about changing their country for the better.

Later in the paragraph, she saw: _'Although he's our Fuhrer, he's also the most eligible bachelor, wanted by all the women in the country. When he's not busy with work, this rich and handsome man will most likely be seen with a woman on his arm.' _Riza stopped reading there. She didn't want to be reminded of her pain again. She couldn't believe that even after becoming the Fuhrer, he was still the same. She felt her heart clench. She couldn't help but feel sad, seeing that her absence hadn't affected him even a little bit. The picture of him seemed like he was having the time of his life. Did he find out about her? Did he even care? She didn't want to know anymore. She figured after he had become Fuhrer, he no longer needed her anymore. He had all the soldier he needed for protection and she was sure her spot had been taken by an attractive officer wearing a mini skirt by now.

She closed the newspaper and placed it on her night table. She turned off the light before going into bed. As she laid there, she kept thinking about Roy, wondering what he was doing right now. But she told herself to stop. She needed to let him go. _I've done my job. I don't need to go back anymore. He seems to be doing fine without me anyways. _She continued staring at the ceiling until sleep took over her.

* * *

A.N.: Here's a new chapter guys! We finally get know what happened to Riza! Yay! Thanks for the encouraging words everyone! I'll see you in the next chapter :)

Please leave a review if you like the story so far! Thank you :)


	8. Chapter 8

Riza had learnt many things after her first day around her grandfather's house. In the beginning, she was overwhelmed by everyone and all the new things she had to adapt to. But over time, she had settled down and became more comfortable.

She had met the doctor that was in charge of her and was able to get all the answers to her questions. She confirmed that she had been unconscious in that ditch for almost two days, not three, which would explain why she was able to survive. The doctor explained to her how hard it was to actually maintain her stable condition. She had many tubes and IVs attached to her, an ECG and other machines that measured and regulated her system. She had only survived because they had constantly supplied her with water, nutrients, antibiotics and other drugs to help her fight death. She was also informed that everything was under the order of her grandfather, who had insisted that she received the best care and that he would cover for everything. Riza didn't know where her luck was coming from. Each time that it would seem to be the time for her to die, someone or something would always prevent her from that fate. She wouldn't have cared that much if she would have died this time. After all, she had lost the right to live a long time ago when she had taken the lives of many other innocent people. She didn't deserve this second chance to live a happy life.

Riza had also visited the town one day, which was called Hawkesbury. It was a lively and small town where everyone was friendly and practically all knew each other. When she had walked through the market streets, everyone had looked at her with great interest and she could tell they were all gossiping and spreading the news about the newcomer. This town was peaceful and quiet, except during festivals, competitions and when merchants came through the town. Hawkesbury was a hot spot for merchants because many merchants from Xing passed by there since it was located near the only main road that connected both countries. It's a great place for purchases and exchanges, therefore, excellent for the town's economy.

But she had been most surprised with the fact that her grandfather was the mayor of this town. Initially, she had thought that everyone was looking at her because she was a new face, but it was actually because she was the mayor's new family member. She was different from her other cousins, in looks and in demeanor. Once again, it was her blond hair that made her stand out, but also how reserved she was. Riza Hawkeye was never a talkative person, which was the contrary to the rest of her family.

She had learnt about the great things her grandfather had done for the town. He was a mayor adored by the townspeople and he fulfilled his duties as one. She was proud that her grandfather was a righteous and caring man.

One of the unfortunate things she had found out was that her cousin Amy was a diehard fan of Roy Mustang. One day, Riza passed in front of Amy's room and saw her walls all covered with posters, campaigning posters, articles and magazine covers of Roy. Apparently, her and many other girls around her age were huge fans of the Fuhrer and they all dreamed of marrying him. They knew everything about him, at least they thought they did, and she had overheard one of Amy's conversation with a friend saying that they should plan a trip to central to try to meet him in person. As much as Riza didn't like Amy, she felt bad for her that she had fallen for someone out of her reach. She chuckled when she thought about Amy's reaction if ever she found out about Riza's past and her proximity to Roy.

Although everyone, except Amy, had welcomed her warmly, she still felt bad for being a free-loader and felt that she was imposing on them no matter how many times they told her it was okay. The Hawkeye family was wealthy after all. One more person in the house wouldn't change anything for them. It was more of a pleasure for her grandfather than anything else.

All this time, she had never known about her father's family and was surprised to know that it was this large. No matter how much she despised her father for what he did to her, she still felt bad for him that his dream had been rejected by his own father. He had missed out on such a lively and warm family.

Riza had, without letting anybody know about it, gotten a job at a local book store. It was a simple and quiet job where she could read on her time off and also get discounts on books. All she had to do was place books in their rightful places, help customers find the books they're looking for and be a cashier when needed. When her grandfather had found out about it, he had wanted her to quit. He had told her that she didn't need to work and if she needed money she could just ask him for some. But Riza wanted to work to keep herself occupied and it was also a job that she enjoyed. After many debates with her grandfather, he had finally given in, seeing that she was genuinely enjoying her job. The last thing he wanted to do was taking away something that made his granddaughter happy.

Her job at the book store had actually made the shop more popular and had many more customers. The manager had told her that she was his good luck charm because many young men, who previously rarely entered the shop, were coming in like moths attracted to a flame. Most of them came frequently and used any excused to talk to her. She found their attempted discreet gazes uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing. She didn't really like being watched by this many people. Sometimes her manager would come and rescue her, telling the others to let her work in peace or to go purchase their books fast and leave. They were all attracted to the air of mystery that was coming from her. She was quiet and reserved, beautiful and humble, polite and elegant. What man wouldn't be attracted to a girl like her. One day, a brave young man attempted to do something none other had done before. He went up to her and asked if he could take her out for a drink sometime soon. But she had politely declined. After that, she had a few other men asking her out, but she had all declined their offers. Her heart wasn't ready to move on yet. Although she had rejected them, soon they had come back and became friends with her, which she greatly appreciated.

Like that, Riza was leading a peaceful life in Hawkesbury with her father's family, working in a book store and enjoying her new life. However, each time she saw Roy in the newspaper or heard about him, her heart cringed and she couldn't help but feel a bit lonely. This happened quite often because Matthew and Amy were his fans, although for different reasons, and they always talked about him whenever they got the chance to.

* * *

"Hey Riza, do you want to participate in this year's shooting competition? We could use you in our team," asked Matthew.

It was early spring, ten months after she had started living with grandfather, and the annual shooting competition was just around the corner. Matthew had brought her to last year's competition and it was a very big and popular event where many people from neighbouring towns and villages came to compete and watch. She had seen many prominent and skilled contestants, but it was none other than her uncle Harold that had won the competition. The prize was a limited edition rifle, handmade by a gunsmith, and a ten thousand dollar check. But this year, they had decided to change things a bit and made it a three-man team competition. Matthew was with his father and they were looking for the third member. She had practiced with him sometimes at the shooting range and he was amazed by her skills, saying that he had never seen such an amazing woman before, which made her laugh.

"I'm not sure. I'm not the type to compete in anything and I don't know if I'll do any good if I do enter." It was a lie of course. She was the best in competitions and she was, and probably still is, the undefeated champion. But she didn't want them to now that. She didn't want to risk anything. That's why during practice, she would miss some shots intentionally so they would not be suspicious. She hoped that her hesitation and self-doubt would convince him to choose someone else.

"Are you seriously saying that? Who are you trying to fool? Your aim is great! That's why I picked you as our third member, and my dad agrees too. Look, this year there's a team from the neighbouring town that's coming and we have to beat them no matter what. You remember the guy I showed you last year who went against my dad in the finals? Well that's the guy who's coming this year and I heard he wanted revenge. So I'll put your name down on the team and I'll give it to the organizers alright?" Matthew said.

_I guess that didn't work, _she thought. "Wait. I don't know if I can and that day. I have work and I'll have to check my schedule to see if I'm availa-" she started, but was interrupted by Matthew.

"Don't worry about it! I know the owner of the shop and he's a huge fan of this competition. His shop is always closed on the day of the competition so that he can go watch it too." Matthew laughed.

_Damn,_Riza thought. She really couldn't get out of this one. So in the end, she had no choice but to agree. Matthew had informed her that the competition would be held in two weeks. Harold, Matthew and her had to practice a lot in the next two weeks. Matthew was determined to win this time. Two years ago, he had lost against his rival, Peter, from the other town and since then, every time they saw each other, Peter would remind him of his lost and rub it in. Peter was actually the same age as Matthew and both their fathers were not fond of each other either. Basically, both sons and fathers hated each other. Riza sighed, _why did I let myself get dragged into this personal grudge._

A week later, the whole family was sitting at the dinner table having supper. It had been a long day for Riza and she was tired; there had been many problems at work that day that had to be solved. As everyone was talking, she overheard Amy and Matthew talking about Roy.

"Hey, did you hear about the Fuhrer's upcoming trip out west?" Matthew asked Amy.

"Well duh, that was so yesterday! They say he's coming to check on the western headquarters. It's not too far from here, so maybe some girlfriends and I are going to take a train there and wait for him in front of the gate of the headquarters." Amy said proudly.

"Man, you're crazy. But you know he's coming around the time of the competition. The trains are gonna be packed like crazy from all the neighbouring towns-"

"He's VIP Matt! He's not gonna be riding with other sluts and bimbos! I heard he has a whole compartment all to himself and it's heavily guarded too."

"No, that's not what I wanted to say. I meant that maybe he's going to stop by Hawkesbury and see what's going on. It is a pretty big festival after all and maybe he'll want to have a break and come to our town," At that, Amy's eyes widened in realization and stared at Matthew, who was only smiling back at her excitedly.

"Wow, you're a genius! That might be true! Why would anyone pass by such a huge event anyways? He has to see his country up close someday, right? This might be the perfect time for that. Matt, you should totally join our fanclub!" said Amy.

"Thanks, but I'll pass on that," he answered with disgust.

"Are you two talking about the Fuhrer again? You guys have to stop dreaming. You're not going to meet such a powerful man like him anytime soon, so get back to reality and concentrate on your own lives for once," Harold said with his booming voice.

"What!" exclaimed both of them at the same time.

"I'm not dreaming! I'm going to meet him for sure and I'll make him fall for me. And when that happens, I'll bring him home and prove you wrong!" Amy retorted.

"Yeah dad, who says we're dreaming. If you really want to, you can meet anyone you want. You just have to make it happen. And who knows, we might just meet him pretty soon," Matthew said.

"What do you mean by that?" Amy's father, Bob, asked curiously.

"We were saying that he might drop by during the competition a week from now. It said in the newspaper that he was coming to the west to check up on the western headquarters. And our town is on the way there, so if he sees so many people come here, then he might come see what's going on too," said Matthew.

"No he won't. He doesn't have that much time to waste, leisurely stopping here and there to see some competition," Harold said with a stern face.

The rest of the night went on like that, with Amy and Matthew defending their beliefs against their parents. _So much for a quiet night_, Riza thought to herself. As much as she loved her new family, she also missed the quiet days in her apartment alone with her dog.

That topic of conversation at the table had left Riza feeling uncomfortable. What the kids were saying was not an impossibility. Although it was true that Roy was very busy and would most probably not stop here to watch a local competition, she couldn't help but worry about the possibilities. Riza Hawkeye was not a woman to take risks. She liked to be sure of everything she did. She had a bad feeling about this.

The rest of the week had passed fairly fast and the day of the competition had arrived. The town was full of decorations, people with stands selling food, drinks and merchandise, and the streets were full of people. Riza's grandfather, being the mayor of the town, was the one to officially announce the start of the competition. There were about twenty four teams in total. It was a classic elimination tournament, where the winners would go up to the next round and the losers would be disqualified. Since each team had three members, the organizers had decided to make it a three rounds match each time a team competed against another one. Each match, the teammates would have to choose an order in which they would pass against the other team. Each round would be determined randomly by an official, so that nobody could predict the objectives of each round.

Riza had never been to a competition of this sort and it was new and refreshing to her. She was really amused by the different sorts of events they had to compete in. Some were to shoot targets as fast as possible, some where to hit as many bulls-eyes as one could in a limited time period, another one was to assemble a rifle that had been disassembled by the officials faster than the adversary, and there were many more.

As expected, her team, with last year's champion, made it all the way to the finals without much of a challenge. Although the other teams were good, it was clear that their team was on another level. In the end, like Matthew had predicted, it was down to their team and Peter's team. Peter's team consisted of his father, John, his cousin, Josh, and himself. The moment she had met them and exchanged greetings, she knew she was not going to like them. They were arrogant, rough, impolite and mocking. They had ruthlessly beaten their adversaries without giving them a little chance to enjoy the competition. Their motto was '_Crush them_' and they took it seriously. Riza didn't like people like that and she wasn't going to lose to them either.

"Hey Harold, enjoy your last moment of fame, because I'll soon be taking the title of champion," sneered John. Harold glared back but didn't say anything. He didn't want to stoop down at their level.

"What makes you think you're gonna win this year?" Matthew asked venomously to Peter.

Peter laughed and glanced in Riza's direction. "You actually expect to win against us with a girl on your team? You two must've been really desperate to find a teammate, since no one wants to be on a team of losers." Peter's team all laughed out loud, which infuriated Matthew. He already hated Peter's guts, but this was the last straw. No one could insult his family directly in front of him like that, on top of that, he was being sexist towards Riza which was intolerable. He roared in fury and launched towards Peter, grabbing his collar and picking him up. Harold quickly tried to pry him away, but to no avail.

"Matthew, stop it! We'll settle the competition over the final match, not with your fists." Riza said, staring coldly in Peter's eyes. Matthew released Peter reluctantly and each team parted ways bitterly.

Usually, a team would put up their weakest teammates in the first round, then the second for the second round, and the last one would be the best. So in the last matches, Riza was always first, then Matthew and finally Harold. With this order they had won all of their matches.

"So do we keep our order and do what we usually do?" asked Matthew when they had arrived to the final match's site.

"Yes I think that's out best bet. I'm sure they'll-" Harold was saying, but was interrupted by Riza.

"I'll be last."

"What?" Matthew asked bewildered. "You can't! What if they put their best for last? Do you think we could win like that?"

"Alright. Let's do it that way. Matt, you go first, then me, then Riza." Harold had seen the anger and determination in her eyes. He knew right away that she had finally gotten a bit serious. He knew she was not showing them her best in the competition and he wanted to see just how good she was.

"But dad!"

"Matt, it's been decided! We'll do it this way."

Matthew had no choice but to believe in Riza and hope that they could win in the first two rounds so that she wouldn't need to do anything.

As the first round started, Matthew went up and was surprised to see John, Peter's father, as his opponent. John smirked at him smugly and looked away. Matthew glance at Riza and his father with a worried look. He was capable of beating Peter but he wasn't sure he could beat John. He was hoping to go up against Josh or Peter. As the official announced this round's objective, Matthew tensed. They had to assemble a rifle that had been taken apart as fast as they could. But this was Matthew's worst area. He was slow and clumsy, and got nervous every time he had to do this.

In the end, John was the winner and Matthew returned to his seat, defeated and looking down.

"Don't worry, son. It's was unexpected. It's not your fault. You did your best. It think they're trying to win in the first two rounds because they thinks that I'm the third one to compete. But don't worry, I'll win this next one."

This time, it was Peter's turn to be surprised. As Harold had predicted, they had put the two best in the beginning to try to win quickly, but it wasn't going to work. Harold had beaten Peter quite easily in the second round, where they had to shoot as many targets in thirty seconds. When Harold returned, Matthew was a bit more relieved from his lost and smiled proudly at his father. Harold turned to Riza and said, "Now it's your turn. Do your best." He patted her on the back before she headed out to the field.

Josh was younger than her but had the same rotten smug look on his face as his cousin and uncle. They didn't speak to each other, but Riza could tell by the looks on Peter and John's face that they were confident Josh was going to win. She couldn't wait to see their humiliated faces. They deserved to be humiliated in front of this big crowd for insulting and underestimating a woman. When the official had picked out the final round, he shouted out excitedly that the event he had waited for throughout the whole competition had finally showed up. He called it 'Shoot the Flying Frisbee'. Just as the name stated, a machine would shoot out frisbees and they would have to shoot them down. The first one to shoot it down would get the point. They were each handed a high pressured paintball gun, especially made for this event. The high pressure made the gun shoot faster and straighter, resembling a real rifle.

Josh was nervously fidgeting. Riza saw how anxious he looked. It was quite a hard task for an amateur like him to shoot down a fast moving object in the sky. But he quickly composed himself before the start of the match and told himself that he could at least beat a girl. Riza had the colour pink and Josh had yellow. There were ten frisbees in total that were shot in the sky and every time, the referee would lift up the pink flag to signal that it had been hit by a pink paintball. When her team was declared the winner by her grandfather, Matthew and Harold snapped out of their stupor and ran towards Riza, screaming, jumping up and down and hugging her. Riza had proved to be more amazing than they had thought. However, Peter and his family disappeared before they could go see them. They didn't want to face them and be humiliated.

* * *

Roy was boarding the train, ready for the long ride to the west. He had a compartment to himself and a few of his direct subordinates. He was receiving the VIP treatment, with high security, good chairs and good food. As the train started going, he looked out the window, seeing central pass by and soon all he saw were fields of green grass. It has been almost a year since he had headed out west. Actually, it was his first visit there as the Fuhrer. He had tried avoiding going there many times, but now it seemed like he could no longer avoid it and he was forced to make a trip there. The reason why he didn't want to go was because everything there reminded him of Riza Hawkeye. He missed her terribly and it didn't help that this trip was going to remind him of her even more. Although everyone assumed she had passed away, there was still a lingering hope in his heart that she would come back to him one day. So he waited for her, placing her desk in the corner of his new office, ready to receive her whenever she came back. But the days went by and there was no sign of her.

Roy sighed and leaned back in his comfortable cushioned chair and closed his eyes.

"Hey did you guys hear about the big event in Hawkesbury?" Havoc asked Breda, Fuery and Falman.

"Huh? Which one?" Breda asked.

"It's a shooting competition where all the best in the west gather and compete for a prize. Everyone at the shooting range knows about it. I guess you guys wouldn't have a clue about it though." Havoc said.

"Wait, a big competition means there's going to be lots of food!" Breda exclaimed.

"And cool merchandise!" Fuery added.

"And books!" Falman said. Everyone stared at him weirdly.

"No! No! No! That's not the point here! If there's a festival, then there's bound to be lots of girls!" Havoc laughed out loud. The others just rolled their eyes at him. It wasn't like he was going to get any of them if the Fuhrer was around. None of the girl payed him any attention around Roy. But their efforts on Roy were also futile, since Roy had given up his womanizing days.

Havoc quickly scurried towards Roy and poked his shoulder until he woke up. Aggravated, Roy growled, "What is it now Havoc?". Although Roy was now the Fuhrer, he had kept the same close relationship with his old teammates.

"Hey Chief, would it be alright if we stop for a day or two at a town called Hawkesbury before going to werstern HQ? There's a shooting event there that I really want to check out. Maybe we can even find a potential sharpshooter for the military, who knows?" Havoc asked with gleaming eyes.

"Havoc, don't even try. I know you just want to go there to look at the ladies. Anyways, we don't have time for that. It's be better if we arrive early so we can leave early too." Roy replied and went back to sleep. Havoc pouted and went back to his seat.

When the train stopped at Hawkesbury to let the other passengers get off, Roy looked out the window and saw how crowded it was. It must've been a really big event. Havoc and the other had their faces sticked to the window, their eyes wide open like children. They looked at the Fuhrer giving their best puppy faces accompanied by weird pleading noises, but all Roy did was frown at them warningly and look away. The train was taking longer than it usually did to depart. Roy told Havoc to go see what was going on. He wanted to leave quickly before he would give in to their pleading looks.

"Sir, it seems like there's a problem with the engine. The mechanics are looking at it right now, but it doesn't look too good." Havoc said when he returned. A few moments later, a man came in and said, "We apologize for the inconvenience Fuhrer Mustang, but it seems like there's a problem with the engine and it's going to take a few days to fix it because we need to order a new piece." The man looked down, hoping Roy would not be too angry. But all Roy said was, "Alright, it's nothing too serious. We were early anyways and my men really want to see this event, so I guess everything turned out good for them."

He could tell without looking that his subordinates were smiling to themselves, happy about the outcome. They were escorted to an Inn where they could rest and put down their luggage before heading out. They had all changed into casual clothes, so people wouldn't recognize them so easily. Instead of being escorted by a full team of security guards, Roy only allowed Havoc, Fuery, Breda and Falman to come with him. He knew they were going to be easily distracted, so Roy would be free to roam around on his own. It had been a while he hadn't had the chance to go out alone like this and he wanted to take this chance to do so. As they walked through the crowd, Roy had gotten rid of them one by one at food stalls, merchandise stalls, book stores and ladies on the streets. None of them were actually interested in the main event of this festival.

A bit further ahead, he saw a large crowd cheering loudly. He didn't want to approach and risk being recognized by someone. If that happened, then he knew he would be chased by a mob of girls. As he was about to turn around and go somewhere else, he heard someone announce through a microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, this year's winner is team Hawkeye!"

Roy stopped in his tracks and swirled around, facing the big roaring crowd. His eyes were wide and alert. He didn't believe what he had heard but he knew he had definitely heard it right. Without a second thought, he ran towards the crowd and pushed himself through. His eyes were looking straight ahead, determined to pass through the thick crowd. He had definitely heard 'Hawkeye' and that was the only lead and hope he had to find a clue about Riza's whereabouts. He had to meet them and ask if they knew anything about her. After much effort, he had finally made it to the front of the crowd and what he saw brought tears to his eyes. She was in the middle of the field, on a stage, with two other men receiving the winner's prize. He stood there dumbly staring at her. He wanted to make sure his eyes were not fooling him, but no matter how many times he blinked, she was still there. Her golden hair was tied in a ponytail, she wore simple casual clothes and there was a small smile on her face. He had never seen her so beautiful and was mesmerized. "Riza," he whispered, his voice cracking.

When her team had walked down from the stage, people started going forward to congratulate them. That was when Roy snapped out of his trance and saw all the people around him moving. He was losing sight of her because she had gotten down from the stage and the people in front of him were blocking his vision. He panicked and hastily went forward searching for her. When he found her, she was surrounded by many people talking to her, admiring her skills and congratulating her. Her two teammates were as busy as she was.

"Riza."

When Riza heard a voice behind her back call her by her first name, she froze. Her whole world went silent as she stood there, her eyes widened with dread, not knowing what to do. She knew who it was. She could recognize his voice anywhere. She confirmed the owner of the voice when she slowly turned around and saw him standing there, breathing heavily, his black eyes staring straight at her.

"Roy," she gasped in disbelief.

* * *

A.N.: Sorry, I had a lot of things to take care of before school started, urg. Well here's the new chapter! I kinda gave an explanation to Riza's survival, hoping you guys would buy it, lol. I actually laughed out loud when I read a review asking about it. :) I would have thought the same thing, but I guess I was just lazy to write about it.

I hope this chapter pleases the readers. Thanks for the support! See you in the next chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

"Roy"

Riza's mind was blank. All she saw was Roy standing in front of her. Everyone around them seemed to fade away as they both stared at each other, none of them daring to move. She felt her heart beat harder and faster, her breath was caught in her throat and her muscles were all tense. _Shit. Shit. What do I do now?_

"Hey, Riza, are you okay?" Matthew asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. He was busy greeting people and receiving praises, when he saw Riza standing there, motionless.

Riza blinked a few times, still keeping eye contact with Roy, and answered slowly and quietly, "Uh, yeah, I'm alright. Just a bit tired." She took a few slow steps back, looked away and finally rushed out of the crowd.

"Riza! Where are you going?" Matthew yelled after her.

"What's going on Mat? Where did she run off to?" his father asked him.

"Huh? Oh, she said she was tired. But you know how she doesn't like crowds very much. She probably went back home," Matthew said nervously. He was a bit worried, but decided it was probably nothing serious. Since the beginning, he knew she was a reserved person.

Roy realized he had been standing there, dumbly staring at her, only after she had broken eye contact with him and rushed off. He had been so captivated by her that he forgot about everything else. It wasn't a reflex for him to go and grab her, after all. Their relationship has been strictly professional up until now. He never had the fear of being separated from her before, since she had always followed him. Also, nobody dared to go up to her and randomly grab her arm or something, it was much too dangerous. _Damn! Roy, you're such an idiot! Do you actually think she'll obediently stay there just because she saw you. _The truth was, he was hurt that she had ran away from him. It's been over a year since he had last seen her and now she didn't even want to see him or talk to him. So many questions were swimming in his head right now and he didn't understand what she was doing here or if that was even her. All he knew at the moment was that he couldn't lose sight of her. It was the only lead he had on Riza, and he couldn't afford to lose it.

A few seconds after she had left, he frantically followed after her. But it was difficult keeping sight of her because the crowd was too packed. Riza wasn't that tall and Roy had trouble following her because of the other taller people blocking his view. There were a lot of people bumping into him and the more they did, the more he grew frustrated.

"Hawkeye! Wait!" he tried screaming. But she went faster, easily avoiding the crowd. When he saw the distance between them growing, he became desperate and his heart clenched in fear. "Riza! Riza, stop! That's an order!" he yelled, but he couldn't see her anymore. He paused, breathing heavily, trying to look for her in the crowd. He continued walking in the direction he had last seen her, hoping she was close by. Suddenly, a bigger man collided into him and they both fell to the floor.

"Ouch. Oh, I'm really sorry sir. My friend pushed me and I-" said a young man, quickly offering his hand to help Roy up. But he stopped when he saw his face. "Hey, aren't you Fuhrer Mustang? You really look like him."

Roy, afraid he was going to be discovered, quickly grabbed his hat from the floor and fled in the opposite direction.

"Hey, wait! You're the Fuhrer, aren't you sir?" the young man asked aloud. By then, everyone around was looking in their direction, curious at the young man's question. Luckily, Roy had put on his hat and was already out of people's sights. When he finally got out of the big crowd, he kept his head down, hoping it would hide his face. The rumours were already flying around behind him. He heard them say: 'the Fuhrer went incognito and is actually here somewhere', 'someone saw the Fuhrer!', 'Oh my God! He's here!'. He wanted to get out of here before his crazy fan girls 'investigated' the rumours. However, at the same time he wanted to continue searching for Riza, even at the risk of being discovered by everyone. He stopped and looked back longingly. He had to go back. It was his only chance of finding her again. He decided to go talk to Riza's other team members. But someone jerked him out of his thoughts by grabbing his arm and pulling him to the side.

"Chief! Where were you? We looked everywhere for you. There are already rumours going on. Some people say they saw you. Let's go back to the inn. It's not safe for you to be out here." Havoc whispered harshly. The others were all there, uneasy about the rumours and keeping an eye out for people who would recognize Roy. Roy reluctantly followed the others, knowing it was the right thing to do. Although he had many followers and admirers, there was still a minority of people that refused to accept him. His subordinates were all conscious of that and were very careful when it came to his safety.

They made it back to the inn without any problems and went into Roy's room. His room was the largest one of the inn, so there was enough place for all of them to go in. Roy entered his room silently and went to go stand by the window, removing and hat and jacket. Then he looked back at the others, who were just standing there looking at him, and asked "What are you guys doing? You all have your own rooms don't you?"

"Chief, what happened out there?" Havoc was the first one to ask. They were all worried about him. He hadn't acted this way for a long time and they knew something had happened. He was acting the same way he had after he had found out about Hawkeye's death. He was quiet, reserved and showed no emotions on his face.

"What do you mean Havoc? Nothing happened." Roy answered, looking back out the window.

Havoc glared at him and the others fidgeted uncomfortably on their spots. Havoc was angry that Roy wouldn't open up to them and depend on them. They had vowed to support him and protect him after they had heard about Hawkeye.

"Sir, why are you being like this? Why don't you ever talk to us? We're here for you. We want to help you. Why don't you ever tell us anything?" Havoc asked in a demanding voice. The others didn't say anything because they knew that Havoc was the only one who could talk to Roy that way. He was the closest one to the Fuhrer after all.

There was a moment of silence before Roy turned around and said, "I saw her. I saw Hawkeye."

"Wh- what? Who? Hawkeye?" Havoc asked in disbelief. They're eyes were wide, not believing what they had just heard.

Roy nodded.

"How is that possible? Didn't she-" Havoc stopped himself from saying something none of them wanted to hear.

"I know it's hard to believe, but I saw her. I saw her with my own eyes. I don't understand what's going on either, but all I know is that she's alive and hiding from us. There must be a reason for her to do that. I'm going to find her no matter what." Roy said, looking strait at them. They were surprised to see his eyes full of life and determination.

"If she's out there, then we gotta find her quick before she gets away. This time, we won't let her escape on her own ever again." Havoc and the others smiled, ready to support Roy.

* * *

Riza was trying to get out of the crowd quickly before Roy could catch up to her. She didn't dare look back, afraid to see his face again. She heard him call her multiple times, so she ran faster, evading everyone in the crowd. She didn't really know why she was so desperate to lose him, but she knew she was afraid. She wasn't ready to see him and didn't know what to do, so she ran away.

When she got out of the crowd, she ran as fast as she could in the direction of her grandfather's house. The town wasn't that big, so it only took her a little over five minutes to reach the house. She had sprinted all the way back non stop and stopped in front of the gate, catching her breath. She looked back to see if there was anyone that had followed her, but no one was in sight. Everyone was at the town's center, where all the main attractions were being held. She gingerly open the gate, closed it behind her and went in the house. When she entered the house, one of the maids was surprised to see her back so early and asked, "You're already back from the competition, miss Riza? Did your team win?"

"Uh, ah, yes we did." Riza forced a smile and asked, "Is there anyone else who came back?"

"No, miss Riza. You're the only one who came back early."

"Alright, thank you Angeline. I'll be in my room."

Riza made her way up to her room. When she entered her room, she closed the door behind her and flopped down on her bed, burying her face in her pillow. She stayed that way, motionless, for as long as she could, before rolling onto her back, taking deep breaths. She had passed the moment of panic when she had first seen him, but now she didn't know what to do. _I can't believe I ran away. I'm such a coward,_ she thought and sighed heavily.

She couldn't erase Roy's expression the moment she had seen him. It was sheer shock and disbelief, like he was seeing a ghost and wasn't sure if it was a dream or reality. The truth was, she had never seen him with that kind of look before and didn't know how to interpret it. She couldn't read his mind and it scared her to know the truth. Was he angry with her for having lied to him? Or was he happy to know that she was still alive? What would he do when he found out the truth? She didn't want to think about the possibilities because it made her anxious and restless. Was he even going to bother looking for her? She knew he was busy and had a packed schedule, so it was very improbable that he would have the time to loiter around for personal matters. Matthew and Amy did say that he had to go to the western HQ, so that would mean he didn't have the time for her.

All the thinking had made her tired and she had unknowingly dozed off. She woke up when the house had suddenly gotten loud and raucous. She heard voices downstairs and knew everyone was back. When she looked at the time, it was already late and she assumed they were back to have a supper together with the whole family to celebrate the outcome of the competition. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," Riza said. It was Matthew. He peeked his head in, checking if it was all clear to come in, then entered.

"Are you alright, Riza? You left really quickly and I was worried something was wrong." Matthew was the closest one to her. Being the second oldest cousin in the family, he really looked up to her and was happy to have an older sibling.

"Yes I'm alright. I was just tired and I didn't really like being in such a big crowd, that's all." Her answer wasn't really convincing for him, but he decided it was probably something she wanted to keep to herself so he decided not to insist upon it.

"Okay, that's good to know. Well, everyone came back to celebrate our win. We're about to have supper so I came to call you down. We can't celebrate without the champion there now can we?"

She gave him a small smile and they both went downstairs to the dinning hall. When everyone saw her, their eyes were gleaming with joy and excitement. Her uncles patted her roughly on the back. Her grandfather was looking at the family with a smile and a glint of pride in his eyes when he looked at Riza, embarrassed by all the attention she was receiving.

When dinner was served, everyone had quieted down, a bit. Riza was taken by surprise when Natalie, Matthew's younger sister, asked her, "Where did you learn to shoot like that Riza? I don't even think my dad would've been able to shoot one of those down. I mean, it was the hardest challenge after all." Her comment earned a grumble from her father, which made people laugh, but they soon came back to the main topic, Riza's marksmanship.

"Practice, I guess," Riza answered.

"Oh come on! You must've been shooting for a long time to have skills like that! Practice with Mat isn't going to bring you up to that level," said one of the twins. This time it was Matthew that scowled. Riza just smiled nervously and brushed it off. She was hoping no one else would comment about it because she didn't have many valid reasons left to give them.

"She said it was practice okay!" Amy said loudly. She was quietly eating, glaring at her plate. She was jealous, once again, of Riza for getting all the attention, but mostly because Riza had done something she wouldn't have been able to do. She stabbed her meat countless times, listening to the conversations around her. Her parents just sighed, ignoring her childish behavior.

For once, Riza was thankful towards Amy. Her dislike towards her had ended up helping her in a time of need. Relieved that everyone had decided to drop that particular topic, so that Amy wouldn't ruin the mood, Riza tried to eat her supper quickly, hoping she could be excused from the dinner table earlier. She wanted some time alone to think things over about Roy.

Suddenly, Amy slammed her hands on the table and spoke up again, this time with much more enthusiasm.

"The Fuhrer was in town!"

After she had announced that, everyone turned their head towards her. Riza, who was drinking water, choked and was coughing on the side. Satisfied by the reaction she was getting from the family, Amy continued, boasting about the new information.

"That's right! Apparently he was in town because his train is stuck at the station and he had no choice but to stay. I heard some people in the streets say that he was spotted right after the end of the competition in the big crowd. That means he saw our team perform! Maybe he'll come visit!"

"Sis, are you sure you're not delusional right now? This is not some kind of fake information you made up to make yourself happy right? I mean, even if he was here, do you actually think he's just gonna come out on the streets like that?" said Max, one of her twin brothers.

"I'm not crazy Max! This is coming from trustworthy sources! This time I'm positive it's true!"

Even though Amy was convinced he was in town, not everyone believed her. It was just too unbelievable. The adults kept quite and continued eating or talking about other things. To them, it was probably just childish dreaming. Amy continued arguing and defending herself. Riza felt herself shrink in her chair watching the others around the table tensely. Matthew was immobile and staring at his plate. It seemed like he was in deep concentration, probably debating in his head what to believe. The one person Riza was afraid would speak up was Matthew. After all, he was there when Roy was standing in front of her. But then again, the crowd surrounding them was huge and maybe he didn't see Roy. Riza was keeping a close eye on him, when he suddenly looked up, making her jump slightly in her chair. _Damn it, I think he remembers, _she thought in panic. But then he turned the other side, facing Amy, and said, "If he's in town, that means he's at the Inn."

Riza let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. _So he doesn't know._ She felt relieved that no one had found out about her secret. The parents had already forgotten about the subject and were talking about something else. She excused herself from the table and went up to her room. She was mentally tired from the stress and anxiety. She wanted to sleep as soon as she could. So she took a shower, brushed her teeth and went to bed.

The next time she woke up, it was about four thirty in the morning. Normally she would wake up at six, but there were noises downstairs that kept her from sleeping. Riza had become a very light sleeper from all her years of military training. Curious and alert by the noises, she quietly opened her door and looked through the crack. There was no one in the hallway, but she could see a dim light coming from the staircase. Then she heard Amy whisper harshly, "Hurry Mat! If we miss him I'll kill you! The train is supposed to be fixed for this morning so that means he's gonna leave soon."

When she knew it wasn't some intruder in the house, Riza came out of her room and went downstairs.

"Where are you two going?" she asked.

Both of them jumped and gasped. But they soon relaxed when they saw who it was.

"Shhhh. We're going to wait in front of the Inn to see the Fuhrer come out. He must be there, because that's the only one in Hawkesbury," whispered Matthew.

"Yeah. So if ever our parents ask where we went, you can tell them that. They'll understand. I always do this kind of thing," Amy said quietly.

Riza nodded and watched them leave. She decided pretend as if she hadn't seen him. He was leaving today anyways. It's not like they had the time to meet again. At least that's what she hoped. He would leave, forget about yesterday and continue his duty as the Fuhrer. He didn't have time for this. Riza sighed and went back up to her room to change and wash herself. Once she was awake, she couldn't fall back asleep, so she decided to get ready for work. She ate breakfast and read a book to pass the time. She only had to go to work at eight thirty, so she had plenty of time to spare.

On her way to work, there were still quite a lot of people who were preparing to take the train or drive back to neighbouring towns. People around her seemed to be more agitated than usually, but then again, it was her first festival and she couldn't compare it to the other years before. When she entered the book store, the manager stopped her in her tracks and asked, "Did you hear the news?"

"What news?" Riza asked.

"Apparently some people saw the Fuhrer in town yesterday and this morning it was confirmed when he came out of the Inn! He took the first train at seven thirty and left for the West. I heard your cousins Amy and Matthew were there when he came out and got autographs. Not many people were able to see him because they didn't know about it. I guess they were really lucky."

When the manager was telling her this, she could only listen silently. She didn't know what to say. She had already predicted all of this, but when she heard the confirmation, she couldn't help but feel hurt. She knew her feelings for him were still there no matter how hard she tried to get rid of them. Forgetting him was easier said than done. News of him was everywhere, especially in her household where two of his biggest fans were. She felt like the world kept wanting to rub salt in her wounded heart. Roy had seen her and even chased after her. In the deep, deep bottom of her heart, she had hoped he would stay and look for her. At least then, she would feel that she was worth a little more in his eyes. Maybe she was just a burden for him and he wanted to tell her to stay out of his way.

The whole day, she was feeling down and was easily distracted. Her thoughts were running rampant and she couldn't concentrate on anything. Her manager and regular customers were concerned by her unusual behavior. Her manager went as far as to let her leave early that day, which she was grateful.

It was six and she could smell food cooking in restaurants and houses as she walked down the streets. She didn't feel like going home earlier than usual so she wandered aimlessly. The pain she was feeling in her heart made her lose her appetite and her concentration on anything. All she could think of was Roy.

When she realized she had been walking for over an hour, she found herself in a secluded park on the outskirts of town. She sighed and looked around. There were a lot of trees and flowers, but she wasn't interested in the scenery right now. She walked towards an old swing and sat down. For some reason, she felt exhausted and wasn't in the mood for anything.

As she was sitting on the swing, she stared at the floor lost in her thoughts. For the first time since the war, she realized how much she missed everyone in central, how much she missed Roy and how lonely she felt. Her tears trickled down her cheeks, but she didn't bother to wipe them away. This was her moment of catharsis and she was letting out all her emotions she had been keeping bottled up for a long time. It wasn't the fact that she didn't like her family and job right now, but she was feeling a bit homesick. She wanted to work with the old team back in central where she belonged. But the fact that she knew she couldn't go back pained her and made her long for the old days.

Even when she was crying alone, she tried to control herself not to sob or cry loudly. She had brought it upon herself so she couldn't blame anyone for it. She wasn't supposed to regret or cry about it.

Suddenly, she felt strong arms wrap around her shoulders tightly. She jumped and yelped. How could she not have noticed someone's presence so close by? This was really unlike her. She cursed in her head, got up and tried to get out of the hold, but to no avail.

"I'm not letting go of you ever again," said a voice.

The voice was so close to her ear that it sent shivers down her spine. She stopped struggling and her eyes widened when she realized who it was. They stayed like that for a while, feeling the heat radiating from each other's bodies. Those few seconds felt like an eternity. Riza slowly turned around, heart pounding, still trapped in the person's arms. The man she saw was the man she had always looked at from a distance. It was Roy. He was holding her so very close. Her breath was caught in her throat as they stared into each other's eyes. Roy was the first to move. His hand cupped her face and he wiped her wet cheeks with his thumb.

"Why are you crying Riza?" he asked tenderly. She had never heard him speak like that before. She didn't answer him right away. It felt like a dream. She was still trying to register what was happening.

"What are you doing here, sir?" she asked him, ignoring his question.

"Are you crying because of me?"

"Don't you have a meeting at Western HQ? I thought you left this morning? Why are you still he-" Roy put a finger to her mouth to quiet her down. He smiled at her. After all this time she was still the same; always worrying about him above anything else.

"I left this morning to take the train, but I disguised myself and sneaked out right before the train left the station," seeing her frown, he quickly continued to explain, "It was Havoc's idea. I had to pretend to leave so everyone in town would know that I had left. Then no one would be out looking for me. I sent Havoc as my proxy to go meet with the generals."

Riza was still frowning and looking very confused. Since he knew Riza wasn't going to say anything, he went ahead and said, "I had to find you. Did you actually think I would leave after seeing you and after you escaped from me?" He was now smirking, voluntarily teasing her. Riza looked down, embarrassed by his words. But she didn't have much space to move so her head bumped against his chest. That's when she realized just how close they were. She gasped and felt the heat rush to her face. Roy pulled her close to him in a tight hug before she could do anything. He buried his face at the crook of her neck and breathed in the scent he had longed for. Riza could feel his lips on her skin. The heat rising to her head and her heartbeat was so fast that she was getting dizzy.

"S- sir, this is inappropriate. Someone could see us!" she said urgently. But he didn't move a muscle.

"I've missed you so much Riza. Not one day has gone by without me thinking about you. I didn't realized what I had until it was gone."

He stopped when he felt her tears on his shirt. He waited for her to calm down a bit before continuing.

"I'm sorry for all the things I did that hurt you. I'm sorry for being a coward and indecisive. I'm sorry for taking such a long time to find you. I'm sorry to have made you feel so lonely. And I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner." He took in a deep breath and, with resolve in his eyes, he said in her ear, "I love you Riza Hawkeye. I've loved you for a long time. I've always only looked at you and loved you. But I was too afraid to say it to you. I was afraid you'd reject me."

Riza was now sobbing and crying uncontrollably. He rubbed her back and held her close. He had said the words she had always wished to hear from him. She was overflowing with emotions and it came out in tears. She felt so happy that she couldn't help but cry. When she looked up at him, she wiped her eyes and said, "Roy, you idiot." Roy chuckled and smiled a genuinely happy smile. He cupped her face with both hands and leaned his forehead against hers.

"I'm your idiot aren't I?"

Riza smiled. He always knew what to say to make her happy. Roy slowly leaned in and kissed her softly, as if he was afraid to hurt her or break her. Riza leaned further into the kiss and wrapped one arm around his neck while the other rested on his chest. When they broke apart for air, they looked at each other's eyes lovingly. "You look so beautiful Riza," Roy said, which made Riza look away shyly.

He smiled and hugged her. "You're so cute when you're blushing," he continued. Riza's face was now all red. "R- Roy!" she whined. She knew he was teasing her and she didn't like when it because it was working. It had only worked because he had caught her in her most vulnerable time. Roy just kissed her again, this time more passionately.

"I love you so much Riza."

"I love you too Roy," Riza said shyly and quietly. Roy's smile widened even more.

"I'm so happy right now. This time, I won't let you leave my side ever again." He looked at her and she nodded.

Riza had never felt so happy before. Her world had turned around in a few minutes. Just before he had come, she had felt like she was dying inside. She felt like she was living in a dream where all she wished for came true. But that dream was a reality and she was living in it.

They went to a nearby bench and sat down. His arm was around her, holding her closely, while his other hand interlocked with hers. They sat there silently enjoying each other's company. Riza was the first to speak.

"How did you find me?"

"Well it wasn't that hard. Your grandfather is the mayor of the town and your last name isn't very well hidden. I had Havoc, Breda, Fuery and Falman ask around yesterday night."

"I see. I suppose that's true."

"Do you like working at the book store?"

Surprised by his question, she asked, "How did you know I worked there?"

"I watched you the whole day today. Ever since you came out of your house. My stalking skills have improved, right?" he grinned.

"You were in the book store? Why did you wait till now to talk to me?"

"I wanted to watch you. I wanted to know about you and what you were doing. But you looked very disturbed and tired today."

"I couldn't stop thinking about yesterday."

"Why did you run away yesterday?"

Riza looked down nervously and unsure if she wanted to tell him, but she decided to tell him the truth.

"I was afraid. I didn't know what to do or say. I didn't know if you were angry at me or how you would react, so I ran away. I'm sorry, I panicked," she said timidly.

"Why would I be angry? Do you know how terrified I was after I lost you? I thought I had lost you again and wouldn't be able to find you." He paused before saying painfully, "I thought you died in the war."

"Me too. But my uncle found me and saved me. I lived here with them because I was afraid you wouldn't want me back."

Roy pulled her into a hug and said, "Don't ever think that way. It pains me to hear you say that. I always want you by my side. I don't function well without you." Both of them laughed at his last comment.

Riza looked around and realized it was getting dark. She looked at her watch and saw that it was past nine. She knew her grandfather would be worried because she had never been out this late at night. "Roy, it's getting late. I have to go home before my grandfather worries."

He nodded and they got up and walked back to Riza's grandfather's house, hand in hand.

A few blocks before arriving at the house, Roy's stomach growled loudly. He scratched behind his head and laughed nervously.

"I forgot to eat today." Riza just chuckled.

"I haven't eaten much either. Why don't you come in for dinner then. I'm sure there's something we can find to eat," she said.

"No I don't think I should. I don't want to impose on your family. It's so late and-" Roy was saying, but Riza interrupted him.

"Roy, I assure you you will not impose on anyone. They're going to be more than happy to welcome you and to feed you. I'm sure you have no spare clothes, nowhere to go and no idea where you want to go. So just come on in. You're going to have to meet them sooner or later."

Roy grinned and agreed. _How does she know all that? She's Hawkeye after all, _Roy thought. Riza never ceased to amaze him. He didn't know how she read his mind, but it was always true. He could never win against her.

When she opened the door to the house, she saw her grandfather sitting in a chair waiting for her. He got up when she entered and asked, "Riza! Where were you my dear? Why are you out this late? Have you eaten supper?"

"I was meeting someone grandfather. I'm sorry to have worried you," Riza reassured her grandfather.

It was then that her grandfather noticed the tall man behind her. At first, he took his time observing him and judging him. But when he figured out where he had seen him, his eyes slowly widened.

"Um, grandfather, this is my-" Riza was trying to introduce him, but Roy suddenly interrupted her.

"Boyfriend, sir. My name is Roy Mustang. It's a great pleasure to meet you," Roy offered his hand to Riza's grandfather and with his infamous smirk plastered on his face.

It took a few seconds before the older man could react and accept the Fuhrer's hand.

"The pleasure's all mine Fuhrer Mustang. It's a great honor to have you in our house," he said. Riza's grandfather was too busy trying to recover from his shock at meeting the Fuhrer in person that he seemed to forget for an instant the relationship between Roy and his granddaughter.

"Riza, my dear," her grandfather said, "How did- How did this happen?" He looked at Roy with disbelief and amazement, who was contently smiling beside Riza.

Riza looked at him from the corner of her eyes and saw the smile he had on his face. She knew that smile. It was the one he'd put on when he would be enjoying himself and she knew he was certainly enjoying himself now, so very much. This was another one of his tricks to tease her.

"It's a long story grandfather. I'll tell you another time. We haven't eaten yet and I was hoping there would still be some things left for us. Anything is fine," Riza said, hoping she could get out of the situation.

"Oh of course my dear. I'll tell the cooks to make you two something," her grandfather said.

"Thank you grandfather," Riza said. It was late and she knew most of the people had already went to bed.

As her grandfather left them to go tell the cook to prepare something, Riza turned to Roy and glared at him.

"Why did you have to say it like that?"

"What? What do you mean?" Roy feigned innocence.

"You know exactly what I mean. Now he's going to bug me until he finds out everything about our relationship," Riza said with a disturbed look on her face.

Seeing that she looked troubled, Roy asked, "What's wrong with telling him about us? You want to hide our relationship? I know it was fast but-"

"No it's not that. It's just that I've never told him about the military and such. I'm just scared to tell him the truth. I didn't want him to judge me if I had told him I was a soldier who had killed many people."

Roy grabbed her shoulders and looked at her in the eyes. "He's your grandfather and I can tell he loves you very much. He won't judge you or be angry at you. I think he would feel sad that you hid your life from him. But he'll be happy to know that you told him the truth. Don't worry about it."

Roy's words made her feel a little bit better, but didn't erase the dread she felt on the inside. Riza led Roy to the dining room. He looked amazed as he walked through the hallways. He had the same look she had on her first day here. They sat down at the end of the table facing each other. Riza could see her grandfather standing behind the wall, looking at them from a distance. She knew he wanted to give them space, but still wanted to keep a close watch on the newcomer. She chuckled to herself at the sight.

"What's so funny?" Roy asked.

"My grandfather keeps looking at you behind the wall over there. He's a little overprotective sometimes." She glanced at the wall behind him to tell him the location. Roy smiled.

"I'm glad you have such a caring grandfather. But he doesn't need to be wary of me, because nothing will ever happen to you as long as I'm here," He said with a playful arrogance. Riza just smiled.

There was a moment of silence where both of them were deep in thoughts. Roy was the one to break the silence.

"So, this is where you've been living all along?" Riza nodded. "How did you get here?" He had asked the question she had feared from the beginning. She knew he wasn't going to like it and she didn't really want to talk about it.

Seeing that she was hesitating to speak, Roy said, "You told me your uncle found you and brought you here. How did that happen? Weren't you in the Western War?" When he said that, Riza looked up. Roy was getting strait to the point and he wanted answers fast. For many months, he had been depressed with her 'death' and now that he had found her he needed to know everything that he hadn't understood before.

Riza sighed and looked to the side. There was no way she could get out of this one. "So you found out about that."

"Of course I did. You were reported as missing person. I also know that it was I who was supposed to be there, not you." Roy anger and frustration was slowly showing and Riza flinched at his words. She knew the situation would come to this.

"Why did you do that Riza? Did you think I would break down if I went? Did you pity me? Did you ever think about how I would feel about you going there in my stead?"

"I didn't want you to go. I didn't want you to get hurt. You had enough trouble with Ishbal and I didn't want you to experience something like that ever again. I was your bodyguard and it was right of me to protect you in that way. I was scared to lose you. I did it hoping you could have a chance to become Fuhrer." Riza stood her ground firmly. For her, she had done the right thing at that time. She didn't regret anything and she wasn't going to feel sorry now. Roy was looking at her sternly and the air had gotten tense between them.

While they were busy glaring at each other, the cook brought them each a plate of hot food and set it before them. They thanked the cook and each started to eat silently. Halfway through the plate, Roy sighed heavily and put his fork down. Riza paused and waited for him to say something.

"I hated myself for letting you leave. I hated myself for being useless. I hated myself for my carelessness. I became the Fuhrer by using the chance you had given me without even knowing about it. I blamed myself for your death. If I hadn't been such a coward, then none of this would have happened. When I became Fuhrer and found out about you, I felt that the world was crashing down. I felt that a part of me had died with you. I wasn't happy anymore. I couldn't work, I couldn't think and I felt like life had been drained from me. But I had to continue living, because people were depending on me; because I wanted to realize our dream; because I didn't want your death to be in vain. That's how I felt when I found out about you." Roy paused, thinking about his next words. "So don't go deciding by yourself what's good for me, because what I want the most is knowing that you're safely by my side. If you ever leave me like that again, I don't know how I'll survive."

By the time he had finished his speech, Riza had put down her own fork and was silently listening to him. She was staring down at her hand, refusing to look at him in the eye. Her eyes were prickling with tears and she was putting in a lot of effort to keep them at bay.

"Riza, look at me." When she did, he continued, "I didn't mean to sound angry like that. It's just that, to me, you were dead. It was hard on me and I had a lot of frustration bottled up. I'm sorry for that outburst. I didn't mean to hurt you in any way."

Riza wiped a tear that had rolled down. "No, I should be the one that's sorry. I didn't mean to cause you such grief. I never thought it would affect you that much."

Roy smiled sadly, "Well, I guess that's my fault too. I never told you about my feelings and I was always out with other girls. So, you wouldn't have known about it. I'm sorry." Roy felt relieved he hadn't hurt her feelings when she smiled back at him. It was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen and it only made him love her more. He was glad the tension between them was gone. He had panicked when he had realized how intense their conversation had ended up. But he had also ended it well and in a sweet way to make things better between them.

When they had finished dinner, Riza went to go ask her grandfather for permission to let Roy stay the night. Her grandfather made sure he got the guestroom at the opposite end of the long hallway from Riza's room. Roy pouted and Riza laughed to herself. Her grandfather had given Roy some spare clothes to sleep in. He stood there making sure they both went into their respective rooms before retreating to his own room.

When Riza was sure her grandfather had left, she quietly tiptoed to Roy's door and knocked quietly. She heard feet shuffling and a few seconds later, Roy cracked his door open. To his surprise, he saw Riza wearing only a spaghetti strap tank top and short shorts that revealed much of her nicely toned legs. His breath was caught in his throat. It was his first time seeing Riza in such revealing clothes and it was taking all of his willpower to control himself. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Regaining his composure, he tried to cooly say, "Wh- What's wrong Riza?"

Riza smirked. It was exactly the reaction she had expected from him and it was funny to see how he was struggling to keep his eyes focused on her face. She approached him slowly until she was dangerously close and said in his ear.

"I forgot to tell you something." Her hot breath was making his own temperature rise. He swallowed and stayed motionless. Riza looked strait into his eyes and said, "Congratulations on becoming Fuhrer, Roy Mustang."

She leaned in and kissed him, with her body pressed against his chest. He could feel her breast and the heat from her body. The kiss grew deeper and more passionate. But the moment Roy took a small step back into his room, pulling her in with him, she pulled away. She backed up into the hallway with a bounce on each step and a mischievous smirk on her face. Roy was stunned at her sudden actions and was gaping at her.

"That's for all the times you teased me today, Mr Fuhrer." Riza turned around and looked back one last time with a seductive look on her face then happily made her way back to her room.

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A.N.: Here's the long awaited chapter! Blame school for this late chapter, lol. I didn't have much time to write the chapter and it didn't end up how I thought it would be. Well I hope you guys are still pleased with it... I'm so tired right now, need to sleep. Until next time. Hopefully not too long. It's almost the end! Maybe I should end it in one big chapter. :)


	10. Chapter 10

**A. N.: Sorry for the long wait everyone! Here's a new chapter. It's shorter than usually, but I'll try to update soon for the next one :)**

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Riza groggily woke up the next morning. She hadn't slept well last night so she was feeling a little more tired than usually. She sat up in bed and stared at the wall. She couldn't figure out if yesterday's incidents were just a dream or reality. _I'm going crazy_, she thought, _he left yesterday morning. Stop trying to please yourself with these imaginations. _She laughed, thinking about the way she had reacted when they had reunited. _I'm sure he would have laughed. _She looked at the clock on her night table and her eyes shot out. _Damn it! I forgot to put the alarm!_ It was seven thirty and she had to get to work by eight. It was very unlike her to forget these kind of things, nonetheless wake up so late. Usually she would wake up a little bit before the alarm went off and just rest in bed until it did. She jerked the covers off of her and ran to her private bathroom. It didn't take her long before she was ready and heading downstairs.

She briskly walked towards the dining room, hoping to grab something to eat before she left. But the closer she got to the room, the more she felt something was off. All the voices she was hearing meant everyone was awake and downstairs. This had never happened before. It was always her who was up first, with her grandfather and sometimes a few of her uncles and aunts. But the kids were always sleeping in as much as they could. She approached the doorway with much curiosity, only to gasp, jump away and hide behind the wall when she saw what the commotion was about. With her back against the wall and her breath held in, all of yesterday's incidents came rushing back. Roy was sitting in the middle of the table with everyone around him. Even Cecilia, her quiet four years old cousin, was staring at him with wide curious eyes. Riza could hear them asking Roy a bunch of questions, which he happily answered, because most of them concerned their relationship.

"So, in just one day, Riza became your girlfriend?" one of her aunts asked, with much anticipation, Riza had to add.

"No, of course not. Riza and I have known each other for over ten years. We just never had the chance to get things started." Roy answered cooly. However, his answer had made everyone explode with even more questions.

Riza's head was peeking out from behind the wall, observing the interrogation between her embarrassingly animated family and a laid back Roy, who was obviously enjoying all the attention about their newly formed relationship. Riza growled and sighed. _Why did Roy have to make things more complicated for me. So much for my breakfast. _Before she could do anything else, Cecilia had her finger pointed at her, just like the first time she had come down. Everyone's attention was now on her and they rushed to bring her into their circle of questions. _Urg, why? Why do you always have to see me, Cecilia?_, she thought to herself. The fastest ones to get to her were obviously Matthew and Amy. They tried to drag her into the room, but Riza yanked both of her arms away.

"I have to go to work or I'll be late," was all Riza said before she dashed out of the house. She didn't know how Roy could handle all of them, but she would have felt overwhelmed by their persistence. Her family was the stubborn type that refused to back down until they knew everything. She knew that if she had given them a chance to start, she would have definitely been late for work.

As she quickly walked to work, she kept thinking about yesterday and felt her cheeks flare up in embarrassment. She couldn't believe what she had done and she was sure Roy had been shocked as much as she was now. Then it suddenly came to her. She had forgotten about Roy. She had left him all alone at the mercy of her family. She stopped in her tracks and felt bad about what she had done. As she was hesitating whether to go back and rescue him or to let him handle it on his own, someone behind her said, "Did you forget something?" Riza turned to her side and saw Roy.

"Roy. I'm really sorry about everything this morning. I didn't expect everyone to react so fast." Riza was worried he'd be angry at her, but he laughed and said, "Well, I am the almighty Fuhrer. Who wouldn't want to see me immediately after they knew of my presence. They were quite amusing. But, I was a little hurt when you just left without saying anything to me." Roy mocked pain and Riza smiled at him.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to get away from them quickly. I didn't mean to leave you like that. I reacted without thinking," Riza tried to explain.

"Don't worry, I know. I totally understand what you did. I would have been scared too if I was in your place." Roy took Riza's hand and started walking with her. "You need to get to work right? I'll accompany you."

As they walked hand in hand, Riza remained silent. Roy knew something was bothering her. She kept staring down and he knew she was deep in thoughts.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked casually. Riza looked up at him, then back down. He knew she had something to say, so he waited.

"About yesterday," Riza started hesitatingly, "I'm really sorry you had to see me that way. It wasn't a good day for me and I know I acted inappropriately", referring to her outburst of tears yesterday. As they both remained standing there, she suddenly felt that she had difficulties breathing and couldn't meet his eyes. Roy stayed quiet for a few seconds, that felt like an eternity for Riza, until he spoke gravely.

"Honestly Riza, the last thing I want from you is your apology. Stop saying you're sorry for everything you do." Roy gently grabbed her shoulders to make her look at him, "I didn't fall in love with Lieutenant Hawkeye, the perfect soldier. I fell in love with you, and everything about you. No matter what you do, I'll always support you like you did for me. Before you're a soldier, you're a human, a woman. And it's normal to cry and to be happy when the time comes. _I'm_ happy that you feel comfortable enough to be able to show me those feelings. Don't keep them bottled up inside. If you need someone to share them with, I'll be there no matter what." He ended it with a cheery grin, which made Riza smile in return. It never ceased to amaze her how Roy always knew what to say to cheer her up. She was glad Roy didn't judge her from her actions the day before. Even when he had told her he loved her, she still had trouble believing it was really happening.

"Thanks Roy, for accepting me," Riza said quietly. Roy smiled and took her hand before they started walking again.

When they reached the book shop, Riza didn't even have the chance to open the door before her manager came bursting out.

"Riza! I'm going to miss you! Why? Why do you have to leave me now?" He was whining, all at the same time hugging her tightly and laying his head on her shoulder. Riza was taken aback and tried to pry him away, unsuccessfully, for, his grip was too strong and she didn't want to hurt him. But her manager suddenly leaped back, almost two meters away, when he saw the darkened face of the Fuhrer. He quickly lowered his head and dramatically bowed many times, profusely apologizing.

"Fuhrer, sir! I did not know you were still here. And with Riza?" he looked questionable at her, then back at him, "I'm sorry for my rude behavior, sir. Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee or tea?"

Roy, still with a displeased look on his face, said "You know, you shouldn't suddenly jump on women that way. It's _offensively_ rude to their partners." Roy was ruthlessly glaring daggers at the poor man who had jumped on Riza and _hugged_ her tightly.

"P- p- partner?" was all the manager could stumble out of his mouth. Riza pitied the man, who had ticked off Roy. Before Roy could burn more holes into her manager with his gaze, she decided to take control of the situation.

"Don't worry about him, sir. He's just in a bad mood," earning her a look from Roy that she ignored, "How did you know that I would be leaving soon? I haven't told anyone about this yet."

The manager cautiously answered, "Your grandfather just called and told me you had to quit because you were moving away. And he told me to tell you when I saw you that he'll be waiting at home for you."

When had she properly bid her manager goodbye, they both walked back the same way they had come from. Riza's heart felt heavy with guilt. Her grandfather had called her manager to tell him she would have to quit. What Riza felt bad about the whole situation was the fact that she hadn't yet properly spoken to her grandfather about all of this, but he already knew she would be leaving the house soon. She had selfishly avoided all the questionings, only to force her grandfather to reach out to her through another person. She should have explained everything to him the moment they had come back yesterday night.

Roy knew Riza was sad from the way she walked to the way her eyes looked distant. He was the one guiding her, while she walked at a slow pace almost aimlessly.

"Don't worry too much about it Riza. He'll understand when you explain everything to him." Riza looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't expected him to know what she was thinking about. Then again, he was the only person int he world who understood her best.

"You don't think he'll be angry at me?" Riza asked him.

"No, but he might feel hurt that you still haven't explained anything to him."

Riza sighed heavily. "I guess you're right."

After a moment of silence, Roy spoke again. "You know, Riza, I'm not here to force you back to central with me. If you want to stay here, I'll accept your decision. If you come back, you're going to be a soldier again. But if you want to stay here and lead a normal life, I'll understand that too."

"Are you saying you don't want me to come with you?" Riza teased him.

"No! I do want you to come with me and be by my side. But what I want the most is for you to be happy. If you're truly happy here, then I don't want to force you into doing something you don't want to. I want what's best for you."

"I know Roy. I was just joking," she paused before she continued, "As much as I like it here, it's just not the place for me. I feel more at home with everyone back in central. I miss my old life. And I especially miss being with you."

Her words had made his heart soar and his grip on her hand tightened. The truth was, he really wished from the bottom of his heart that she would come back with him. But he didn't want to make that decision for her. Hearing her say that she wanted to be with him brought him extreme joy. When Riza stole a glance at Roy, she chuckled to herself when she saw his expression. His face had brightened up, plastered with a huge smile, and even a little tint of pink of his cheeks. He looked like a high school boy who just had the girl he liked confess to him. _Honestly, you're such a child Roy, _Riza thought to herself. She knew perfectly well why he was all pink and giddy. But she was thankful that he had respected her and let her make her own decision. She decided not to say anything about it, so it would not hinder his '_manly ego_'.

Slowly but surely, they arrived back at the house and entered quietly. The house was quiet. The kids had all gone to school and her aunts and uncles were probably at work or off to do some errands. She quietly made her way towards her grandfather's office, followed by Roy. She knew he would be waiting in there. Whenever he had things on his mind, he would always shut himself in his office for a while. She gave a few light knocks on the door and waited.

"Come in," she heard her grandfather say.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see that all four of her uncles were present, although it didn't show on her face.

"I'll wait outside," she heard Roy say behind her.

"No, it's okay. You can come." Riza assured him.

When they were all seated and served tea, that her grandfather had insisted they did, Riza was the first one to speak.

"I'm really sorry I hid all of this from you. I know you've taken me in and cared for me for all this time. I shouldn't have returned your hospitality with lies-"

"Riza, dear, we already knew from the start that you had hidden things from us. We knew you weren't ready to tell us and it's alright. We're your family now and we want you to know that. We wanted to let you tell us about yourself when you were ready, that's why we ignored it. But now that everyone in the house knows about you two, we think it's time that you share your story with us," her grandfather said quietly.

Riza looked at everyone, who just stayed quiet and waited for her to speak, then turned to Roy. He nodded slightly, encouraging her to speak. By then, her guilt had increased a tenfold and she knew they deserved an explanation. She recounted her life to her uncles and her grandfather, from her childhood all the way to the present. She had explained her long relationship with Roy, how it started when they were just children and he was her father's apprentice. She recounted her military training after her father's death, then her recruitment to the Ishbal war and how she ended up assigned under Roy when that said war ended. She continued to relate how she volunteered to go to the western front, purposely excluding the reason she had done so, as to not have them blame Roy. She finally told them the real story that got her to the state they had found her. All the time she was telling her story, everyone, even Roy, were listening intently, absorbing every word she was saying.

"So that's what really happened. I'm a Captain in Amestris' military army and that's how I've spent my life up until now."

When Riza was done, none of them said anything. They were all trying to integrate everything she had just said. They knew she had been hiding something from them, but they hadn't expected it to be this big. They couldn't believe the hectic life she had led all alone until now. Each second that passed by made Riza grow more and more uneasy. _Why aren't they saying anything? Oh no, this is bad._ Riza didn't know what to say, but she was sure they would all be angry at her for one reason or another. Roy, feeling her nervousness, took her hand in his. That simple gesture calmed her down and she waited patiently for someone to speak.

"Wow, I can't believe you've been through all of that. For such a young lady, you've lead a very, unusually eventful life. I didn't know you've been through such hard times." Riza's uncle, Harold, said.

In the end, all of them had around the same reaction of disbelief and amazement. It ended well and they had all decided it was best to keep the details to themselves and just tell the others about her part in the military. Their conversation continued, which consisted of them asking questions to either her or Roy and they would answer as best as they could. At one point, Riza's grandfather asked Roy a rather personal question that made Riza wish she had a wall for her to hide behind.

"What are your feelings towards my granddaughter Mr Mustang?" Her grandfather was staring him in the eye, scrutinizing every move he made. The old man's stern look left no place for jokes or light answers. He was determined to find out if this man was just fooling around with his granddaughter or if he was truly sincere about her. Everyone was now staring at Roy, anticipating his answer. Roy knew he was not asking him as a Fuhrer, but as a man to answer him.

Without a moment of hesitation, he said "Sir, if you are worried that my feelings for Riza are not sincere then you are wrong. I have loved her for a long time and will love her for the rest of my life. I promise you that I will treat her right and cherish her for as long as I live."

Both men had their eyes locked on each other, with a fierce and strong gaze. Riza could feel the tension between them and she didn't dare disturb them. When her grandfather was satisfied by Roy's answer, after a meticulous analysis, he smiled and said to Riza, "You've found yourself a good man Riza."

"Thank you grandfather." Riza was truly happy her grandfather had accepted Roy. Her uncles had no objections either, especially if the head of the family had already given his consent.

Her uncles eventually left for work, having already called earlier to say that they would be late. Riza and Roy stayed to have lunch with her grandfather. After that, Roy told her that Havoc and the others would be arriving soon at the train terminal. They left the house early in the afternoon, taking a taxi to get to the train station. They knew that the rumours were running rampant throughout the town and everyone was probably excited and awaiting their presence. If they had decided to walk to the train station, which didn't usually take that long to get there, they would have been flocked by many people and would definitely never get there on time.

They arrived right on time to see the train pull into the station. As it slowly came to a stop, Riza spotted the old team, always the same, tapping on the glass and waving their arms excitedly from their cabinet. Roy and Riza smiled at their enthusiasm. They saw how the team, of supposedly professional soldiers of the Fuhrer's personal entourage, pushed each other, trying to get off the train first. They wasted no time running towards Riza and gave her a big bear hug. Riza was now confronted by four crying men hugging her from all directions. They only released her when Roy cleared his throat behind them, signalling the time he had graciously allocated to them to touch Riza was over. Sniffling and wiping their tears of joy, they all snapped into crisp salutes and said in unison, "Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye, it's an honor to have you back in the team!"

Seeing Riza's confused look, Roy said "You've been promoted after the war for all your achievements." Then he turned back to the boys and said in a mock anger, "You salute the Lieutenant Colonel, but ignore the Fuhrer?"

"We see you too often. A salute is not needed. You have the rest of the military to do that for you, almighty Fuhrer," Havoc playfully retorted.

"You guys really want to get demoted do you?"

They all laughed and Riza finally felt like the old days she had yearned for were back. She missed the four of them and was really happy to see them again. Suddenly they heard loud barking coming from the train. When she looked that way, she saw a man unloading a cage with a dog. The medium sized cage rattled as the dog barked and begged to get out. Riza's face brightened as she recognized the dog and quickly made her way towards it. When she opened the cage, the dog jumped on her and licked her face excitedly.

"Hello to you too Hayate. I missed you too." Usually she wouldn't have let him jump on her like that, but it had been a long time since she had seen him and she wanted to hug him as much as he wanted the hug.

The men smiled at the touching reunion, except for the sensitive Fuery, who cried. When Riza walked back to them, with Hayate following closely behind, she said to Roy "Thank you for taking care him."

"No problem at all. He was an excellent guard dog and a good companion."

Riza was relieved that Hayate had not caused trouble when she was gone and even a little bit of pride that he had kept up his obedience.

"So what's the plan now? You're coming back with us, right Hawkeye?" Breda asked.

"Yes I am, but I can't leave without saying bye to my family. I also have some things to pack." Riza answered.

"I'm sorry, we don't want to rush you, but the Fuhrer has an important meeting in central tomorrow afternoon so we definitely have to leave tonight if we want to make it back on time," Falman said.

"No it's alright. It's actually better this way. If I linger too long, it'll only make it harder for me to leave," Riza said, with a hint of sadness that hadn't went unnoticed by Roy.

"Are you sure, Riza? If you want more time-"

"Yes I'm sure. Don't worry." She assured him.

By the time they had finished talking and catching up on Riza's story, it was about four thirty and the six of them took two taxis back to her grandfather's house. She was about to bring their team, and good friends, to meet with her family.

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**A. N.: So in this chapter, I tried to develop Roy and Riza's characters a bit more. I wanted them to be a bit more human and not too much soldier, but at the same time not over exaggerating it. I hope it worked... **

**I know it's been a long time since I updated (exams...) so I'll try to update sooner for the next chapters. Don't worry, the story will end with all your questions answered. I hate inconclusive endings, so I'll make sure not to do one.**

**If you want me to answer some questions in the story or if you want to suggest some things, don't hesitate to tell me. I'm always happy to hear from you guys. This is a story for you after all :)**


	11. Chapter 11

When they were making their way towards the taxis, they couldn't help but notice how a crowd was slowly forming. People were whispering, some were pointing, but everyone was looking in their direction. Riza heard some girls scream and run towards her friends. However, no one dared to approach them. Riza wasn't very comfortable being in the center of a crowd. On the other hand, Roy made it seem like this was the most normal thing that could happen. If you thought about it, it was a perfectly normal reaction from the public. It was normal to get excited if you saw the most important, and good looking, person in the country in a small town like this one, where most of their guests were merchants. Although Riza and Roy were dressed casually, the others still had their military uniforms on since they had just come back strait from the Western headquarters.

Riza had put on a stoic face and was standing as still as a statue as she waited for the men to get their bags from the train into the taxi's trunk. Roy had noticed Riza's silence. He put his arm around her shoulders gently and asked, "Is the crowd bothering you that much? Do you want me to tell some men to disperse it?"

"No, it's fine. I have to get used to it one day or another, since I'm going to be beside you from now on," Riza said quietly and Roy smiled. He was glad she planned to stay with him even if he knew she was shy. Not many people would believe him if he said Riza was a shy girl, because no one knew her well enough to know that. He had spent many years with her, from her childhood up until now, to be able to conclude that she was quite timid and shy at times. However, it was a hard trait to see because of her stoic façade and strict, no nonsense, personality. It had taken years for Roy to be able to get her to open up to him a bit and he was surprised to find a quiet and shy girl beneath the mask she wore everyday. It was one of the many things that made him fall in love with her. He had to admit though, that Riza was an expert at hiding her feelings, that even he had trouble trying to figure out what she was thinking sometimes.

They had finally gotten into the taxis and Riza had told both drivers the address of her grandfather's house. Roy, Riza and Hayate were in one taxi while the others were in the other one. They had strongly insisted that they wanted to give them some space to be together and that they had no objections in sharing a taxi for four people.

Havoc was sitting in the passenger's seat, while Fuery, Breda and Falman sat in the back seat with Breda in the middle.

"Tell me. Why are you the one to sit in the front?" asked Breda through his teeth.

"Because I'm the highest ranking soldier in this taxi so I get to sit in front," replied Havoc nonchalantly.

"Um, if we were going to be this squished in one taxi, then why didn't someone go with Hawkeye and the Fuhrer in the other one?" asked Fuery, who was jammed in his corner by the door.

"Because that person would be a third wheel! Couldn't you tell how lovey dovey they were? You don't want to interrupt their time together because the chief's going to be really busy when we get back and they probably won't have a lot of time for themselves. So it's up to us to sacrifice our comfort to let them enjoy their time together. Got it?" Havoc lectured poor Fuery.

"What do you mean 'we' have to sacrifice our comfort? It's 'us'. You're not included," Breda glared at Havoc, who glared back.

"Well, I did notice how the Fuhrer seemed like he went back to his old self. Actually he's even better than before. It's been a long time I haven't seen him that happy. But I still think Hawkeye looked scary. When we were taking a long time trying to find our luggage and loading it into the trunk, our eyes accidentally crossed paths. She had the same look as she always had," Falman said, almost to himself. While he was saying that, the other three went from having a smile on their faces, only to be replaced by a depressed scowl when it ended.

"I saw it too," the others said with a sigh.

They had seen her look when they were walking back from the train with their luggage in tow. Although she wasn't glaring at them, her look of extreme annoyance had made them understand her message and they quickly accelerated their motions. It was the look that said 'If you don't go faster, I'll _make_ you go faster'. In the end, they concluded that Riza was still the same as always, intimidating as hell.

The ride didn't take long. They got to the house after ten minutes, but what awaited them wasn't what Riza had expected. Outside the gate, a lot of schoolgirls were waiting, as well as many townspeople and other children. They were all hoping to get a glimpse of the Fuhrer in person. There were people that she knew and they would surely ask her many questions before she could get into the house.

Riza had her hand on the doorknob, but hesitated before opening it. She was planning her next actions and thinking of the best way that would get Roy safely into the house.

"Riza, we'll just get out and go in. They're not going to attack us. Just go." Roy reassured her. He got out from his side and Riza could hear the girls scream as loud as they could, which was loud. By the time Riza got out, Roy was by her side and the others were around them, with their luggage in hand and surrounding them, making sure no one tried to get too close to the Fuhrer. Roy waved and smiled to the public while they walked towards the gate. Riza opened it and closed it after everyone had gotten in. She heard some people asking her at the other side of the gate, "Riza, is that really the Fuhrer? Why is he here? Do you know him?"

Riza looked back and replied, "I'm sorry, I don't have enough time to answer all the questions right now, but you'll all find out soon enough." It was true that they were running late on time and Riza really couldn't afford to explain the situation to every single person that was there.

When they got into the house, Riza's grandfather and some of her aunt and uncles were waiting for them and welcomed them in the house. Riza could see all her cousins hiding at different places. Riza felt an air of excitement and anticipation in the house.

They all moved to a large tearoom where they could all sit down. Riza was surprised that no one had asked her anything yet, or that the twins hadn't come clinging to her arms begging for answers. Then she realized that neither Matthew nor Amy had come to bombard her with even more questions. _This is strange, really strange, _Riza thought as she looked around suspiciously.

Feeling that Riza was a bit confused and that the four new soldiers that she had brought were starting to feel uncomfortable with the kids spying on them, Riza's grandfather said out loud, "Stop hiding children. If you want to meet them so bad, then just come in." So they did. Kids came filing in from all the different entrances. The older ones sat on the chairs available and the younger's kids just sat on the floor close to their parents. Havoc and the others had their eyes bulging out and mouths open when they saw just how big the family was. Roy and Riza saw their looks and chuckled. Cecilia, the youngest of the kids, came up to Riza and asked to sit on her lap, which she happily complied. Out of the corner of her eyes, Riza saw Amy flinch and stare in jealousy when Cecilia sat on her lap, right next to Roy.

"I've already told them about you two and your military career, so you don't have to worry about it." Riza's grandfather clarified.

"Thank you grandfather," Riza looked at everyone and said, "I'm truly sorry I hid this from all of you. I just didn't know how I could explain all of this."

"Don't worry about anything Riza! What's important is that we all know now and we've accepted everything. So you don't have to be afraid and hide things from us," he uncle Harold said. The others nodded in approval.

"Oh and I haven't properly introduced my other coworkers. From the right, there's Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc, Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda, Warrant Officer Vato Falman and Sergeant Major Kain Fuery. This was the team I worked with under Colonel Mustang at the time." They all smiled and nodded their heads sheepishly.

"You could say we're her family in Central since we're always together. Hawkeye's like a sister to us. Well sometimes more like a babysitter," Havoc added and laughed.

Riza saw 'The Troublesome Threesome', which consisted of the twins, Max and Ryan, and Michael, who was a bit younger than the other two, with their eyes bulging out in admiration and itching to ask a question, but trying to keep it in for the sake of their parents. These three were always the troublemakers and were always playing around, doing pranks and annoying their older siblings. Riza saw how they stared at Roy and smiled at their curiosity.

"Do you three have a question?" Riza asked the three boys. The others on the room shot their heads towards them in dread and alert. They were sure it wouldn't end well.

Max, being the 'leader', smiled widely at the opportunity given to him and asked directly to Roy, "You're the Flame Alchemist aren't you? Is it true that you can shoot fire from your hands? How do you do it? Can you show us? Please?"

"Max! How can you ask something like that to the Fuhrer?" His mother said to him harshly, scolding him.

Roy looked around the room, and then said, "It's alright, I don't mind it at all. But I don't want to burn your house, so I can only light the fireplace if your grandfather permits me."

With permission, Roy snapped and the fireplace was lit in a split second. Everyone was in awe and the three boys leaped up in excitement and cheered. Riza looked at him and thought, _showoff_.

For the next twenty minutes, Riza answered some more questions and everyone was more relaxed and open. However, not once did Matthew or Amy open their mouths. They were sitting far back in the room together, silently staring at them.

"Roy, just to let you know, you have two great fans at the back there. Ever since I came here, they never stopped talking about you." Riza pointed at Matthew and Amy, who gasped loudly and their faces became deep red in embarrassment. Riza knew what she did was a bit pushed, but she had to force them to act or else they would never do anything. She knew that in the end they would thank her for it. Roy looked up and saw them.

"Really? Oh, I think I saw them when I was going to the train station."

He got up and walked towards them. Matthew was the first one to introduce himself and shake Roy's hand. He was stuttering and rambling on how he admired Roy's work and determination and how he wanted to be a man just like him. Roy laughed and thanked him. When he turned towards Amy, she looked like she was about to faint, but managed to say her name and also shake his hand. Roy gave her his killer smile, which made her stumble back on her chair and sigh. Matthew caught her and made sure she was stable on her chair. All the others laughed at her.

"I have to up and pack my things because we have a train to catch soon," Riza said after a while. She attempted to get up, but Cecilia squeezed her hand and asked quietly, "Can I be the flower girl?"

"Huh?" Riza asked. She didn't understand what Cecilia was trying to ask. However, her family was very aware of the little girl's question and they all stared.

"Can I be the flower girl? When you get married, I saw in a book that there's a flower girl. Can I be the flower girl?" Cecilia asked innocently, looking at Riza with her big round eyes.

When Riza had finally realized what her little cousin was trying to ask, her face blushed a deep shade of red and avoided everyone's glance, trying to figure out what to say to the girl. She quickly looked at Roy and saw that he, too, was blushing.

Not knowing what to answer, Riza avoided the question by saying she really had to go pack and left the room, going upstairs. Everyone laughed and Cecilia, who was left on the couch beside Roy, turned to him and asked, "So, can I be the flower girl?"

Riza ran upstairs and into her room. She didn't understand how kids could be so blunt. She hated being in those kinds of situations. After all, Roy and her hadn't even gone out on a real date yet, and she was already asking to be their flower girl at their wedding. Riza put her hands on her cheeks, feeling the heat and trying to calm down. She was really taken by surprise and was a bit disappointed that she couldn't cover up her feeling better than this. She was a bit worried about what Roy would think about this. She didn't want him to think that she expected him to marry her. But she didn't want him to think that she didn't want to either.

She decided to ignore the questions in her head and to start packing her things. She didn't have many things that she had to bring, just a bit of clothes and other essentials. Then, she heard a knock on her door and told the person to enter. It was Matthew.

"Are you done packing?" he asked with a sad hint in his voice.

"Almost. I don't have much, so it won't take long."

"You know, I was really happy when we found out who you were. I always wondered how it would be to have an older sibling."

Riza walked up to him and gave him a hug. "Stop making it seem like I'm going away forever. I'll be in Central and I'll come back to visit from time to time."

Matthew nodded, holding back his tears. Then he smiled and said, "When you come back, you'll bring the Fuhrer along right? Do you know how shocked I was when I woke up and saw him in the kitchen? I froze! I can't believe you knew him and never told me anything! No, forget knowing him, you're his girlfriend! He might be my cousin one day!" He started laughing hysterically, dreaming of the future. Riza smiled and looked at him. He was definitely lost in his own fantasy.

Riza was closing her bag and getting ready to go back downstairs, when her grandfather came in. He walked closer to her and gave her a gift bag. Riza took it, but looked at him in surprise.

"This is a gift from your grandfather. I've never given you anything up until now, so before you leave, I wanted to give you this."

"Grandfather, you shouldn't have. You've given me a lot more things than I could have ever wished for. I was already happy to be able to live here with you." Riza said, trying to push the gift back to him.

"No, no, you have to take this. If you don't then what am I supposed to do with it? It's especially for you." Her grandfather had a look that left no room to argue. Riza gave up and he told her to open it. Inside, it was a white summer dress and a matching cardigan.

"It's beautiful grandfather. Thank you." She hugged him. Riza couldn't remember the last time she had receive a gift for anything, much less a dress. When she was young, her father had always forgotten her birthday so she grew up thinking it wasn't an event worth receiving a present. But this time, it wasn't even her birthday and her grandfather had given her this beautiful dress. Riza was smiling and asked if it was all right if she wore it now. Her grandfather nodded and was very happy that she liked it.

He had done on purpose to add a matching cardigan for her, since the dress revealed a bit of her back. But he knew about the tattoo. When her aunt was changing her while she was unconscious she had told him about it. Since then, it had been a secret between her aunt and her grandfather. He probably thought it would be best if they didn't say anything about it. He already had an idea of the possible cause of such a tattoo, so he didn't want to bring it up if it would make her remember bad memories.

When Riza was done changing in her bathroom, she came out and showed it to her grandfather. She felt like a little girl, anxious to wear her new dress and showing it to her grandfather. With the life she had led, Riza didn't have many opportunities to wear such clothing, but that didn't mean she wouldn't want to.

"You look so beautiful my dear," her grandfather said with a smile.

"Thank you grandfather."

When she came downstairs, her family was praising her dress and saying how beautiful she looked. She saw Roy stare at her, without blinking, mesmerized. Havoc elbowed him to snap him out before other people could see him to avoid getting the Fuhrer embarrassed. Riza had learned that Amy had gotten more autographs from Roy and a picture with him. She was sure that Amy was going to show it to all of her friends at school and brag all about it. The other four men had gotten along with the kids explaining and telling stories of their lives in the military.

"Thank you for everything. I was very happy to have been accepted by all of you. I don't know how I could ever-" Riza started saying.

"Just make sure you come visit us," Amy interrupted. She had a frown on and tried to make it seem like she didn't care at all that Riza was leaving, but everyone knew that she would also miss her.

Riza paused, then smiled and said, "I will. I promise."

When Riza hugged everyone and said her goodbyes, her grandfather spoke up. "Mr Mustang. I don't care if you're the Fuhrer of this country, but if you make my granddaughter cry, then I will not let you off so easily."

"Don't worry sir. That won't ever happen. I'll make sure it doesn't," Roy answered confidently.

Outside the door, a crowd was waiting for them at the gate, however it was smaller than before. It was easier for them to get into their taxis with the help of Riza's grandfather, who told everyone to back off. They made it in time to board the six o'clock express train for Central. They had a whole division for themselves. Havoc and the others went into a compartment, while Riza and Roy were left alone in another. Riza was impressed with the special treatment they were receiving, from the security, to the comfort of the seats and the quality of the food.

"I don't remember trains having such a luxurious compartment, much less hot food like this," Riza said as she took a bite of the supper they were eating.

"That's because you've never been on a train with the Fuhrer," Roy answered pompously. Riza eyed him and sighed. _I don't think he's ever going to change_, she thought.

When they finished eating, they just sat down and talked about all the things they had to catch up on. Roy explained to her in details about all the events that had led to his inauguration and how he had found out about her enlistment. As they were talking, he paused, then reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small notebook.

"I believe this is yours." It was the journal Riza had kept during the Western War. She took it slowly, reminiscing upon it. She had a distant look in her eyes, reading the entries she had written. But as she skimmed through the pages, she suddenly gasped, closed it shut and pulled it to her chest in a defensive way. She looked up at Roy warily, but he had already been waiting for her to remember and had a sly smile on his face.

"You don't need to hide anything, I already saw it a long time ago."

Riza tried as hard as she could to keep the heat from reaching her cheeks, but she didn't think it was working. What she had written in the last page was a secret that she would never have revealed if she thought she would have lived. That means he knew all of her feelings for him and it embarrassed her the way she had just bluntly said it in the message. She felt naked in some way and couldn't look at him in the eye.

Roy went to sit next to her and pulled her close to him. She kept staring at her hands, fumbling with her notebook.

"I love you Riza Hawkeye," Roy said suddenly. Riza looked up at him and gave a shy smile. Then, she leaned in and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"I love you too Roy Mustang," she said after pulling away.

When the night came, they pulled out the small beds on each side of the compartment and settled themselves in. It was dark, but they could still see each other thanks to the dim light emitted by the moon. Being only an arms length away from the love of his live, Roy was having a rather difficult time falling asleep. Riza had already dozed, lying on her side facing him. He marveled at how divine she looked, especially with the moonlight hitting her figure. Her blond hair shined and cascaded around her shoulders. Roy smiled when he saw how relaxed and peaceful she looked.

He sat up, removed his white dress shirt, to reveal his undershirt, and lay back down. Staring at Riza had gotten his temperature to rise and he was finding it more and more difficult to sleep as the time went by. He tuned on his side, facing away from her and sighed. _Calm down boy, your day will come. Just wait._ It was taking all his will to control himself. Soon, he fell into an uncomfortable sleep, all the while thinking about her.

Roy groaned and put his arm up to cover his eyes. He had woken up because the sun was directly shining on him. It took a while to remember where he was. He sat up and looked beside him. What he saw was no better than the night before. His eyes widened slightly and he swallowed hard.

Riza was lying on her side facing him. However, the cover she had the night before, which covered all of her body, was now rustled, half falling on the floor and covering only her waist. She had fallen asleep in the white dress she had worn the day before since her change of clothes were in another part of the train. In her sleep, her dress had risen above her mid thigh and was dangerously close to revealing more. But the worst part was her chest. The dress didn't normally reveal much of her cleavage, but the way she was sleeping had pulled down the top, which allowed a magnificent view of the top of her breasts pressed together.

Roy's mouth was gapping at her. _Why is this happening to me?_ He thought. He looked at his watch and saw that it was a little past five in the morning. Riza's side was blocked by the sunlight, so the light didn't disturb her. Roy sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He got up, carefully picked up her fallen cover and placed it on her. He then proceeded to take his own and cover her legs to make sure they wouldn't be exposed again if ever she moved. Satisfied that he had successfully covered Riza without waking her up, he silently opened the door and got out.

He saw the men spread out on different benches of the compartment, sleeping in awkward positions. He took a seat next to Havoc and huffed as he sat down. Havoc had woken up by the sudden presence beside him. He opened an eye and saw the Fuhrer sitting with his arms crossed, looking out the large window, with only his pants and undershirt on.

"What's up chief? Why are you up so early?" Havoc asked groggily.

"The sun woke me up and it's too hot in there to sleep."

Havoc paused for a few seconds, registering what he had heard. Then, a sly smile formed on his lips. Roy didn't like that smile. It usually meant that he was going to get teased about something that was usually true, but that he wouldn't admit.

"Really? It's hot in there? Because of the sun or because of Hawkeye?"

"Of course it's because of the sun, Havoc!" Roy growled at him trying to scare him off, but Havoc's smile just grew bigger and he laughed.

"Okay boss, whatever you say."

It was around six when Riza was starting to wake up. In any normal circumstances, she could have probably slept for another half an hour, but the heat was getting to her. She felt her body temperature rise and she started sweating. She sat up frowning, opening her eyes slowly, and trying to adjust to the light. She looked down at her legs and was lost in confusion. She didn't remember sleeping with two covers on. _No wonder I was feeling something heavy on me_, she thought. She looked to the side and noticed that Roy was gone. For a moment, Riza panicked, thinking that it was all a dream, but she regained composure by telling herself he was probably outside.

She stood up, fixed her dress and reached on the top shelf to grab her cardigan. She was thankful that the material of the dress did not wrinkle. When she thought she looked presentable, she opened the door and went out. To her relief, she saw Roy sitting down with the others around him. Havoc, Fuery and Falman were awake and talking with him, while Breda was still passed out on another bench nearby, snoring loudly. She walked towards them and Fuery was the first one to spot her and greeted her.

"Good morning everyone," she said. They all turned to look at her and greeted her with smiles. "Why are you up so early, sir?" Even though she had called him 'Roy' for the past two days, she couldn't help but go back to her habit of calling him 'sir' when everyone was there.

"Oh, because the sun woke me up and I couldn't fall back asleep."

"I see. And why did you give me your blanket?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, I just thought you would be cold so I covered you up." Roy stuttered. He could hear Havoc snickering beside him and had to use all of his willpower not to turn around and burn him to crisp.

"Well, I think you did the opposite. I thought I was going to burn in there," Riza stated. Roy apologized sheepishly. Riza waved it off and asked, "What are you guys up to?"

They sat around a table with papers spread out and they looked like they were discussing some important matter.

"We were informing the Fuhrer about his schedule and meetings when he gets back to Central," Falman said.

Riza sat down beside Roy and looked at some of the papers.

"You seem so have a very packed schedule, sir." Riza stated without taking her eyes off the paper.

Roy signed, leaned back with his head falling backwards and said, "I know. And it's even worse now since I postponed yesterday's meetings. I have to fit them all in this week or the next."

Riza lowered the paper she was looking at and looked at him. "I'm really sorry. This is my entire fault. I should have known you were really busy. You could have taken the train yesterday and-"

"Don't sweat it, Lieutenant Colonel. He'd rather die than leave without you." Havoc laughed, but earned himself and deadly stare from the Fuhrer. But Riza was more confused about the rank he had just addressed her with than his comment.

"Lieutenant Colonel? Since when was I promoted to that rank?"

They all looked at her in confusion, but soon realized they still haven't told her about it.

"After the Colonel became the Fuhrer, the whole team was promoted. Fuery is now a Warrant Officer, I'm a Second Lieutenant, Havoc and Breda are First Lieutenants and you've been given a double promotion for your accomplishments in the Western War and because everyone thought you died in action," Falman explained.

"I see. Well, I'm not exactly dead, so does that still make me a Lieutenant Colonel?" Riza looked towards Roy, who at that point had looked up.

"Of course it does. You don't get demoted just because you stayed alive. Hell, it's more like I should promote you for surviving such a dangerous mission. Your accomplishments throughout your career earn you this title. Anyways, I know you've already turned down a few promotion offers by other higher ups, so this shouldn't be considered excessive." Roy said. Everyone else agreed, which left no room for her to retort.

Their train was scheduled to arrive at the Central terminal at ten thirty. The drive to headquarters was around twenty minutes, which would make Roy on time for his first meeting of the day with the officials. Roy wasn't pleased with his schedule because he didn't have much time to himself, much less to spend with Riza. He couldn't even welcome her back to work properly. She would have to do all her administration paperwork and get herself a new uniform herself. Not that she had complained about it, she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but he still felt like he had the responsibility of taking care of her.

Roy and Riza went back to their cubicle. They were getting near to Central and Roy had to get dressed in his uniform.

"Riza, sorry I can't help you with your reinstatement." Roy had a sad look on his face that showed her how bad he felt.

"Roy, I can take care of myself. You're a busy man that has a lot of people depending on him. I don't expect you to have the time for something like this. I'll get back to work as soon as I can to help you out," Riza assured him.

"Still, I wished I could have had more time with you. You don't have to rush back to work. Relax and take your time. If you want to take a week off to resettle or something then go ahead."

"Honestly Roy, did you not see where I just came from? I think I've grown tired of relaxing. I want to work with you again." She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"I'm looking forward to having my right hand woman back. No one has been able to take that spot because no one was as capable as you," Roy gave her his infamous smirk while he was putting on his jacket.

"You silly man," she chuckled. Riza got up and helped him button his uniform jacket and tidied him up. Roy was staring at her while she brushed the shoulders, arranged the badges and smoothened out the front of his uniform. When she was satisfied, she looked up and said, "You look great, Fuhrer Mustang"

Roy didn't know how she did it, but every time she did something that showed a bit of affection, he grew more in love with her. If he had to describe in one word his love for her, he would have to say it was overflowing. He couldn't contain his happiness whenever he was with her. Every time he looked at her he just wanted to kiss her and hold her in his arms.

That's exactly what he did. He cupped her cheek and kissed her tenderly and slowly. When he looked at her, she had a light pink hue to her cheeks and a radiant smile that made him melt even more. He hugged her tightly and breathed in her scent.

"Thank you Riza, for everything. I never told you how thankful I was to have had you by my side for all this time. I made it to the top because of everybody who supported me, but you were the one that was always there for me. Thank you Riza Hawkeye."

Riza smiled and wrapped her arms around his body and hugged him back. "You're welcome Roy Mustang."

Riza had never known how wide his body was. Her hands barely touched behind his back. She could feel how toned his muscles were and was starting to imagine things that made her cheeks flush. She immediately shook off the inappropriately naughty thoughts she was having before Roy could see her and question her until she would tell him. One thing for sure, she could now say that this was her man and no one else's. Riza chuckled to herself at those corny thoughts.

When they arrived in Central, there was already a car and a dozen soldiers waiting for the Fuhrer. Even as they exited the train, Roy hadn't let go of Riza's hand and was guiding her every step of the way. The Fuhrer's bodyguards saluted in two neat rows, but Riza could see they were more curious about the woman holding his hand. As Roy walked pass them nodding his head, Riza could feel chills running up her spine because of the scrutinizing stares she was getting. They both got into the back seat of the car, while Havoc was in the passenger's seat beside the chauffeur. Breda, Falman and Fuery had already left in another car and were heading to headquarters, going strait back to work.

"Are you sure it's alright that I'm in the same car as you? I mean, I don't have my uniform and it wouldn't look professional on your part, Roy." Riza asked Roy quietly. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin Roy's reputation. She didn't want to look like an airhead that he had brought back from a trip and was clinging to him.

"What are you talking about Riza? Stop worrying about that kind of stuff. I'm the one that wants you to come with me and I won't have it any other way. It doesn't matter what people think or say. Anyways, you're my aide, so I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to stay at my side."

Right then, Havoc turned around and said, "Oh yeah Hawkeye, did you know that there's a special event today? We came back early especially for this." Satisfied with the curious glance he received, he continued, "Because the chief just became the Fuhrer, the military is doing a friendly competition in Central to celebrate his election. And you know what's really different about it this time? One team out of every branch has been invited to participate. It's like the joint practices we had with the North when we were stationed in the East, except this time everyone had been invited. It's going to be a huge show!"

Riza looked at Roy with a puzzled look. "Is that true? How come you didn't tell me about it?"

"Well, I wanted to surprise you, but Havoc blurted it out too fast. I think Rebecca is going to be there too? She's most likely in the East's sharpshooting team." Roy said, knowing that Riza was really good friends with Rebecca. "Well, it's not just going to be a shooting competition. It's going to cover almost every field, except for alchemy, since it would be too dangerous with a big crowd."

Riza was getting more anxious to return now that she had found out about this event. She wanted to go see Rebecca and her old teammates. But the more she thought about a shooting competition, the more she was reminded of her subordinates during the war and wondered if they had all made it out safe and sound. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't even sure if they were all right, or what they were doing and where they had ended up. This realization worried her, but she didn't want to burden Roy with more questions and he probably wouldn't know about them anyways. She hoped she was going to see some of them this afternoon, if not, some people that knew them and could update her on them. She felt like she had neglected her duties towards her subordinates and now she was feeling uneasy.

Roy's welcoming at headquarters was even more grandiose. Many soldiers stood at attention, with the generals and high rank officers standing at the front, closest to the car, ready to greet the Fuhrer.

"Riza, if you want to avoid all this formal welcoming then you should wait in the car with Havoc until I leave with them, then it would be all clear for you two. Unless you insist on coming with me." Roy told her before the driver had come to open his door.

"I think I'll wait in here with Havoc. Sorry, Roy." She told him. He playfully pouted and sighed in defeat.

"I understand. Just abandon me to those kiss ass generals," he chuckled, then said, "I think I'll be done with the meeting in time for lunch. If you'd like, we could go out for a quick lunch before my next scheduled meeting."

"Are you sure we have enough time for that? It wouldn't be good for you to be rushed."

"Of course we do. Don't worry about it. I'll see you at lunch then, Riza." Roy said before he got out and proceeded to salute and shake hands with some generals. Riza and Havoc watched as he busily interacted with generals eager to know his next moves. Then the whole crowd moved with him into the building, while the bodyguards dispersed and a few of them followed after him.

"You know, the Fuhrer wants to spend every little time he has available with you. So don't hesitate to agree with him. It'll make him happy." Riza heard Havoc say. He was grinning at her from the front seat and she knew he was looking out for them and trying to help Roy.

"I know Havoc. I just don't want him to overwork because of that."

When the crowd was no longer in sight. Havoc and Riza got out of the car and Havoc told the driver he could go park the car. Havoc had taken upon himself the responsibility of facilitate Riza's return. He proved to be as useful as he thought he would be. Being a direct subordinate of the Fuhrer, he was given priority over other soldiers and his requests were being answered quickly and efficiently. Riza's reinstatement was proceeding with high priority. They got the official paperwork done in an hour; instead of the regular two to four days delay. Riza was told to wait until the afternoon to receive her uniform since they still had to formally submit all the papers to get the information processed. Riza was officially a Lieutenant Colonel, posted as the Fuhrer's personal aide and bodyguard.

"I have to get back to the Fuhrer now. I have to be there to wait for him when he's done. There's still about half an hour left so if you wanted to look around or visit the training grounds then you should go now. All the teams should have arrived and they should all be there. I know you have some people you want to see right?"

"Yes, I do. I'll just go take a quick look around, then I'll come back to meet you two."

Havoc snapped into a crisp salute and left to go find Roy. Riza made her way towards the training field in the back of the main building. It was a large field used for any kind of military practice and probably the largest one capable of hosting an event such as this one. On her way there, she saw many soldiers whom she recognized. But none of them seemed to know who she was. Well, very few people had ever seen her in casual clothing, much less with her hair down. They looked at her and sometimes she would glare at some of them that looked at her inappropriately. If it weren't for her resolve to find out about her subordinates, then she would have probably never come here dressed this way. By the time she neared the doors to the outside training area, her brows were knit together in a deadly glare, irritated by everyone, mostly men, around her.

But when she got outside, the sheer number of people practicing, socializing and preparing all around her surprised her. This was definitely the biggest joint tournament she had ever seen that had been condoned by the military. She felt a sudden urge of anxiety as she scanned the area, hoping she would see some familiar faces. Then, as her heart skipped a beat in delight, she saw Steve Orser, her most skilled subordinate. When she saw whom he was talking to, a small smile crept onto her face. He was in a small group talking with Jacob Spencer, Riza's old teammate, Mike and a few other familiar faces. Mike was in front of a target and it seemed like he was showing them his improvements.

She walked as discreetly as she could, but to no avail. She wasn't exactly dressed to blend in. Her white dress contrasted with everyone's dark blue uniform of black military shirts. People that had spotted her had stopped to look and told others around them. Citizens weren't allowed entry in this part of headquarters, so they were wondering what she was doing here in the first place. But most of them stared because of her beauty. Her dress and hair made her look almost angelic in the bright sun and she had a figure that was enviable by many women. But Riza's attention was focused on Orser and the others, so she didn't notice any of those glances.

"You still haven't fixed your habit of holding up your elbow like I told you to, Koss," Riza said behind them.

Riza found it amusing how they had jumped upon hearing her voice, then spun around and made all sorts of faces. Their eyes wide in shock, mouths open agape and staring at her like they had seen a ghost.

"I told you I would come back. Sorry for being late."

At that time, Mike had broken down in sobs, dropping giant tears. Jacob was stumbling for words, trying to ask all sorts of questions. However, Steve seemed the most normal one of the three, but Riza could tell he was just as happy and shocked to see her. She saw in him relief and relaxation. Slowly, he snapped into a salute and said, "Welcome back Captain Hawkeye." The rest of them did the same.

"It's good to be back," she said with a smile.

Of course the first thing they had asked was about her long disappearance, where and what she was doing. But she told them it was too long and that she couldn't tell them everything now. She asked about everyone else that was under her care and she was glad to know that everything ended well without casualties. Steve had been a good leader after their mission and had successfully guided them through the war. Riza felt pride surge through her as she learned how well her subordinates had done and how good they had become. As they were talking, she heard someone scream her name from far away and looked towards her left. There were very few people that called her by her first name, so she already had a clue as to who it was.

Like she had guessed, she saw Rebecca running at full speed towards her, and then almost tackled her with a tight hug. She was crying dramatically and rubbing her cheek against hers.

"Riza! You're alive! I thought you were dead for sure! Where were you? What happened? Are you okay? What are you doing here? I missed you! Do you know how worried I was when I found out you were sent out? And then I find out you went missing! It was horrible! I thought I had lost my best friend!"

It took all of Riza's strength to force her off of her and breathe again.

"Rebecca, calm down. I'm fine and I'm here because I just came back. It's a really long story, so I'll tell you another time."

Rebecca was nodding her head; too happy she had found her friend again. "I was practicing over there with my team, then I heard some rumors going around about some blond beauty in a white dress and I knew it was you!"

Riza frowned and her mouth opened in disbelief. "How does that match my description?"

"It just does, okay! Don't underestimate my Riza sensors. I know it was you because I sensed it. And I was right." Rebecca laughed out loud and hugged her friend again. "We have so much to catch up on."

The three men who stood there watching, were watching in awe at Riza's interaction with her friend. She was like a completely different person from the war. She seemed much happier and open, and they were glad they got to see another side of her.

"Hey Riza, come eat lunch with me. We can talk over some great cafeteria food." Rebecca grinned.

"Sorry Rebecca. I already have plans for lunch, but I'll see you after that." She apologized.

"What? You just got back and you're already booked? Just cancel it and come with me. Please," Rebecca tried to convince her.

Riza chuckled and declined her offer. Suddenly, they heard some cough behind them and turned around to find a man standing there with a smirk.

"Excuse me beautiful lady, but I think you might have gotten lost. This is no place for a young lady like you. If you would like, I would be most happy to escort you to the front door."

Rebecca stared at the pathetic man who was trying to flirt with Riza, obviously not knowing who she was, and leaned close to Riza ear and whispered.

"That's Major Lacquer. He's a player and he thinks he can get any woman he wants. Watch out, he has his eyes on you." When Riza glared menacingly at her, but Rebecca only grinned wider and laughed to herself. _Watch out? Are you kidding me?_ Riza thought. Rebecca was doing it on purpose to annoy her and she hated it when she did that. These kinds of men were the most pathetic and backboneless. Before Riza could say anything, a menacing voice came booming behind Lacquer.

"Do you have any business with the Lieutenant Colonel, Major?" Roy asked the man. He was standing up strait, staring coldly at the Major that was attempting to woo his girlfriend. The whole training field had grown silent and every single officer had stopped what they were doing and stood in a perfect salute.

The Major had spun around and when he saw who had questioned him, his blood drained from his face and he stuttered to answer the Fuhrer. "Th- the Lieutenant Colonel, Fuhrer sir?"

"Yes, _Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye_, Major. What were you going to ask her?" Riza saw Roy's eyes grow thinner with more intimidation. He had insisted on her title to make sure he had understood that she was a higher rank than him.

"Nothing, sir. I just thought she might have been lost and I was just going to offer to show her to the front doors." The Major was all tense and sweating. He was looking down, since he couldn't look at the Fuhrer in the eyes, especially with the way he was being questioned in front of everyone.

"That won't be necessary Major, I can show her to the front. But she's very capable of finding it on her own, so you can keep your concerns to yourself." Even as he spoke those words, it was impossible to ignore Roy's animosity, for he wasn't exactly trying to hide it. If Riza had to describe this situation, she would say that Roy was definitely abusing the use of his authority because of jealousy. But Riza didn't complain. She didn't need to deal with this guy ever again and she was in a way happy that it had made Roy respond so strongly.

Roy walked pass Major Facquer and reached for Riza's hand.

"Let's go for lunch now. It'll take you to a nice restaurant that just opened." He said with a gentle smile, I complete change from what she had just witnessed. She nodded, looked back to Rebecca and the three men who were still in a salute, gave them a wave and left with Roy.

Havoc was a few steps behind the Fuhrer while it all happened, and when Roy and Riza were walking away, he strolled up to the Major, who was still struck with fear, and said, "Out of all the women in Amestris, you had to make a move on her. You're really unlucky. I suggest you don't try to approach the Fuhrer's woman again. I won't be able to guaranty your safety. You might end up in charcoal or full of bullet holes." He patted the poor man's shoulder and laughed. His little joke had almost made the Major faint.

* * *

A.N.: Sorry I thought I was going to finish this sooner, but I didn't. Oh well, it's updated now and it's not finished yet either :) I finished writing this really late, so there might be a few errors in some places. I'll correct them another time. Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's nearing the end. Very soon.

I'm going to collapse on my bed now...


	12. Chapter 12

The walk to the car was silent. Roy couldn't really tell what Riza was thinking. When they had left the training field, she had walked briskly in front of him. Maybe he had overdone his little show and now he had to deal with the consequences.

"Riza, are you alright? Is it because of what I just did?" Roy was really dreading her answer. He had just thought it was a good opportunity to let everyone know that he didn't want people flirting with her.

Riza slowed down and sighed. "It's alright, sir. But you shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it. I wanted to come back quietly, but I don't think that will be the case."

Roy looked away in guilt. She was displeased with him. It's true that he should have just let her handle it. He had acted on impulse without thinking about what she had to deal with afterwards.

"Sorry"

"It's alright, sir. What's done is done. Just don't do that again, please."

They had a quick lunch together in a nice restaurant not too far from headquarters. Although they had spent a lovely time eating, it could have been better without his guards around.

Back at headquarters, Roy followed Riza to the administration office since he still had some free time before his next scheduled meeting. When they entered, everybody snapped into a salute, startled to see the Fuhrer in person.

"At ease everyone. Has Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye been reinstated?" He asked the receptionist. She scurried to check through the files and said it was. She then went in the back, came back with a uniform and gave it to Riza.

"I'll go change right away, sir." Riza said and started walking towards a changing room.

"What? You want to work right now?" Roy asked incredulously.

"Of course, sir. I've wasted enough time. And I'm sure you're in desperate need for someone to help you sort out all your paperwork." She said bluntly.

_Urg, she's right,_ Roy thought. "Alright. I'll wait here." Riza nodded and went to change.

In just one day, he had felt her slowly change back to her stoic military behavior. Roy didn't mind it at all. He had missed his serious no-nonsense aide and was pleased to see that she was still the same. In addition, he got to discover a whole new side of her that he probably would never have seen if all of this hadn't happened. He recounted through all the events that had happened and he was glad everything had ended well.

When she came back, fully dressed in the blue military uniform, he couldn't help but frown slightly. _Well, I guess it's better than to have all the men stare at her._ She went to stand in front of him and saluted.

"Lieutenant Colonel Riza Hawkeye at your service, sir." Roy smirked.

"Hawkeye. Tomorrow is my meeting with the parliament. It's going to be my start to make big changes to this country. I don't know how long it's going to take me, or if it's ever going to change, but I'll have to try." He paused and looked at her. She was looking at him attentively, patiently waiting for him to continue. "Will you follow me?"

"Do you need to ask me that every time, sir?"

"Will you follow me even if I'm an old grandpa?"

Riza looked surprised at his question, then she smiled and said, "Of course, sir. But I have to let you know that I'll be a wrinkly old grandma too."

Then she added, "But I'm afraid we can't apply those terms if we do not meet the conditions, sir."

"What do you mean?"

"We can only be a grandpa and grandma if we have grandchildren, sir."

"That's not a problem Riza! I'll make sure it happens!" Roy laughed out loud, while Riza promptly walked ahead.

* * *

A.N.: And that's the end of it. To tell you the truth, I had fun writing it, but I'm honestly quite disappointed in myself with the ending. It's true that I could have ended it before, but my story wasn't finished and I basically butchered the rest because I ran out of time when school started. I'm really sorry if this story didn't come out to your expectations. Well it was my first time writing a story. In my life. I don't know what got me to write this...

In conclusion, it was a good experience, but I don't think I'm quite cut out for this.

Thank you all for liking this lacking story and thank you for supporting me through it. :)

Maybe. Just MAYBE I'll think of writing something else one day. Of course it's going to be a royai fic. :)

See ya,

CapitalD


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